Playing Human
by takumiraine
Summary: NCIS has a real vampire in its midst, and not the goth coffin sleeper Abby Sciuto, like everyone would expect. "Very Special Agent" Anthony DiNozzo is the nightwalker, and is determined not to let anyone know. It's tough to keep a secret when you work with some of the best investigators in the country. But Tony is going to do his damnedest to try. Tibbs slash
1. Chapter 1 Cherry Crush

Tony DiNozzo was far more selfless than people thought about. Snatching that letter away from McGee and opening it before Gibbs could was a calculated move. Even if the man had never been sick there was no way that he could survive an attack. Not that the younger field agent knew that the letter was contaminated, not even with his stronger-than-your-average-human senses could he tell that there was something dangerous in the letter. He just lived by the creed of 'it's better to ask forgiveness than permission', Gibbs' rule number eighteen. Since Gibbs didn't believe in apologies, all he thought he'd be punished with was a head slap and a 'don't do it again DiNozzo.' before his boss worked his ass into the ground where people would think he belonged if they knew the truth about what he was.

Instead he wound up contracting one of the few human diseases that could weaken his kind so badly that they would be unable to hunt and thusly easier to kill. It could even make him so weak and starved for so long that his blood content would run low enough that it turned to sludge in his veins. After that happened only a specialized healer could reverse the damage and it wasn't always successful. But he couldn't ask for a special healer or even a pack of blood unless he wanted to out himself as inhuman. He knew Abby would be ecstatic, but it was the rest of the team that he'd have to worry about. It would be just his luck if someone was a descendant of a hunter. That was a profession just as instinctual as his needs were. Maybe it would be Kate. She never liked him all that much. Her being a hunter would explain so much about that.

Still, he knew she wasn't sick, and yet she stayed. It was easy to tell. She wasn't hacking her lungs up like he was, her lips and fingers weren't turning blue. She was doing this for him. How noble. He tried to give her his best shit eating grins whenever he could but he couldn't deny that trying to fend off this sickness was eating at his energy reserves faster than he had thought possible. From what he knew about vampire metabolism, the blood was stored in his stomach which had been modified by the change to produce enzymes to break the blood apart and transfer the proteins that made them to his bone marrow where they would be rebuilt and used. However if he was sick like this then those proteins would be used to help fight the germs instead of creating red cells. He still didn't know what happened to food and water with his stomach's function changed, but at the moment he was too thankful that he had fed right before coming into work that morning.

He had just come to terms with the fact that his odds were slim when Gibbs came storming in like some kind of wrathful angel, all business. He had always looked up to the man, with bursts of lust mixed in at random intervals. Usually when he was almost dead, or hadn't gotten any recently. Or when he was starving, he'd keep flashing over to thoughts of having the man pinned against a wall wanting to be bitten and ravish him afterward just as much as Tony wanted to do the biting and be ravished. Alas he was certain that was just a fantasy, even if the headslap that he got from Gibbs was gentler this time, more of a caress than anything else. Being ordered not to die was the thing that sealed his fate for him. If it was an order from Gibbs, then he'd do everything in his power to comply.

His focus kept cutting in and out, but he was anchored to reality more firmly when he felt Gibbs press something into his hand. His fingers closed around it, trapping his boss' warm hand in his grip as well, letting the warmth of that calloused flesh soothe him as he half listened to what Gibbs was saying about women and someone named Spankie. He parroted the name weakly, hazel orbs seeking out, then locking onto the bright blue ones. They stood like that for what must have been an eternity before Gibbs pulled away with what seemed to Tony as regret, and walking back to presumably work on the case. He swallowed, before closing his eyes and focusing as best he could on his breathing, still clutching the phone that Gibbs had left. He heard Kate come back in so he figured the worst must be over.

He had never been so wrong.

"Gibbs, you can't keep me here forever!" It had been three days since Tony DiNozzo had been released from the hospital and he was half pacing, half stumbling back and forth in front of his boss, before stopping to lean on a chair, nearly gasping for breath. "As much as I appreciate you watching over me like I'm a frail invalid, I'm going stir crazy in this house of yours boss!" It also went without saying that he was starving and hadn't been able to sneak out for a quick bite since the day he had gotten sick. He was dangerously low in his blood supply, but staying moving kept it from coagulating in his veins. He knew that Gibbs would be more than willing to lend him a wrist ('or a neck, or a thigh', his mind supplied unhelpfully) if he asked, that was just the type of guy his boss was, but that would also lead to questions. Questions that Tony did not want to answer.

"I am not letting you out of this house. Especially at this time of night and in your condition! What part of 'recovery' don't you get DiNozzo?" Gibbs was being firm, something that he really should have expected. A thought came into his head, and it was worth a shot.

"Well boss how about this, you give me an hour. Sixty minutes. And if I'm not back here in that time you can have McGeek-squad trace the gps in my phone and give me all the headslaps you can handle." Tony watched him consider it, on the brink of shaking his head, denying the request for a bit of fresh air. But eventually he nodded, face mottled into a scowl.

"One hour." Tony launched himself from where he was leaning and enveloped Gibbs in a tight hug before he could think about it. Practically jumping back and heading for the door as soon as he realized what he was doing.

"Thanks boss! Be back soon!"

"And you better keep that damn phone on DiNozzo!" Gibbs called as he shut the door firmly behind him. He walked a block before having to stop to take a breather. At this rate he was never going to make it to the nearest vampire friendly bar and back in time. There was only one thing left to do, call in a favor. He started walking again, towards where he knew there would be an ATM that he could get some cash out of. Pulling out his phone he called the one guy that he knew would be able to help him.

"You've reached Night Delight, this is the best bartender in the world speaking, what can I do for you?" Tony couldn't help the grin that appeared when he heard that voice. It was just the person he had wanted to talk to.

"Nis? It's Tony, I have one hell of a story to tell you, it's practically medieval. But first I need a favor. My boss is having me on a pretty tight leash through my recovery, hell I wouldn't be surprised if he was following me now, but I need three feeders out to the corner of Ninth and Cypress. Is that at all possible?"

"I hope that leash is literal!" he could feel the leering through the phone and couldn't help joining in the laughter, though his petered off to a wheeze causing Nis to make a worried sound. "I'll be there soon Tony, just hang tight." The phone call clicked off with a blown kiss, and Tony smiled, retreating back to the shadows, to watch for the telltale signs of Gibbs following him. So far there were none, but knowing Gibbs he was willing to sit a block or two back and watch him through a sniper's scope. Well if he found out, Tony would deal with the fallout like a man.

Minutes ticked by and Tony watched his phone, letting the time pass him by effortlessly. After fifteen minutes, a silver car pulled up to the curb near him, four people piled into the small sedan. The doors opened almost simultaneously, but a blonde head was the first one out, a lime green and pink glow stick necklace around his neck. Of course Nis had come along, the wiry, but still lightly muscular blonde was such a gossip, there was no doubt that he'd show up. Electric blue eyes locked immediately onto Tony's own hazel ones as the vampire practically skipped closer, placing his hands on Tony's knees and leaning close to him.

"You look like death warmed over, baby." he tipped his neck, perching on Tony's lap in offering. "Let's get something warm into your system then you can tell Nissy-boy everything." DiNozzo nodded, pressing his lips to the blonde's neck seeking out the best place to bite, before sinking his fangs deep. Adonis' breath caught in a gasp before relaxing into a soft moan. the blood was hot and sweet on his tongue, like fresh hot chocolate, only far more satisfying. All too soon a hand pressed to his cheek gently moving his head away from the wound. "Not too much now baby, there are three others waiting to help you, I just wanted the edge to be taken off before you got some humans." Nis let Tony close the wound with his tongue, lightly pressing against the small holes.

"Where would I be without you man? I really owe you now." The blonde laughed and hopped off Tony's lap, straightening the thin lime green tank top and skin tight jeans with hot pink paint smears. nobody else took the place on his lap, instead opting to sit next to him and offer their wrist or neck that way. There were two brunettes, one a standoffish male that reminded him too much of a young Gibbs, and a giggling girl who just melted into a puddle of mush when he smiled and winked at her. There was also a pale blonde who gave him a shy smile and kept his head down.

Unlike vampire blood, human blood tasted more like the broth of a rich stew, packed with meat and vegetables. It warmed him to the bones and made him content and ready to stretch out in front of a warm fireplace. "So now what did my big bad fed catch this time hmmm?" Nis asked reaching out and running his fingers through Tony's hair lightly.

"Well I just saved my team from the pneumonic plague. Not a big deal. How much do I owe you for dinner?" he asked, licking his lips like a satisfied cat.

"DiNozzo! I said an hour!" Tony's head snapped up and Nis stepped back, the humans already snuggled up in the back seat of the car, ready to be paid and get boozed up.

"Don't worry about it Tony, you can get the next round." Another wink and Nis disappeared into the car, before driving away.

"Yes you did, and you're early boss."

"I'm not early DiNozzo you're late, who the hell were they?" Gibbs came closer as Tony stood, gesturing with this left hand at the fading lights.

"Who? Them? Oh they're just some friends from way back. I was gonna pay him back for a dinner he bought me a while back, but once he found out that I nearly died, he told me we were square."

"And the red junk on the corner of your mouth?" Tony had the sudden sinking feeling of being in the interrogation room again, only on a much more damning scale. He reached up and felt the offending substance, wiping it away with a fingertip, grinning and brushing it onto his pants.

"Cherry crush lipstick. That hot little brunette was wearing it and insisted she kiss me for my troubles. Nothing to worry about boss." Tony stated with a carefree shrug, getting up from where he was perched and heading back towards the way he had come, past Gibbs.

"DiNozzo!" The voice following him was harsher than normal, perhaps tinged with a bit of worry. He stopped and turned to face the owner, an eyebrow quirking in question.

"Yes boss?"

"I brought the car." He stated gesturing in a way that suggested he was riding back whether he wanted to or not. Damn, he was feeling better from the fresh blood in his system even though it wasn't 100% yet. Still he got into the car without much fuss.

"Thanks for the ride back, sorry for worrying you."

"Never apologize Tony." The vampire couldn't help but chuckle, of course Gibbs would quote rule six. It seemed to be one of his favorites.

"I know, it's a sign of weakness." He thought he heard Gibbs make a little hum of affirmation, but he hadn't been paying that much attention. He was too busy realizing how much he liked the sound of his first name on Gibbs' tongue when there wasn't an emergency. He could get used to that. Even if he knew that he'd eventually have to go back to the isolation of his shitty apartment.

He'd be back at work soon enough too, and then Kate, Abby, Ducky, Palmer, and McGee would help at taking the edge off of his loneliness.


	2. Chapter 2 Hell of a First Week

Anthony DiNozzo had quite the trying first week back at NCIS, even though technically it was only his fourth day. He had spent a week at Gibbs' house sleeping in the guest room and having the other man mother henning him about wandering off. Or eating, or just taking it easy in general. But that was hard to do in a house without a big screen television, wireless internet or decent conversation. Playboys wouldn't have gone amiss either, but he wasn't about to go ask Gibbs where he kept his porn stash, or worse yet, gone digging between the man's mattress and box spring for the cache of magazines.

So while Gibbs was at work, Tony had his friends meet him on the porch, where they'd sit on the stoop and talk, Tony drinking out of a water bottle filled with blood. He had made friends in that bar, and they knew of his job title, but few believed it since he never went in visibly armed. it had usually been Ami coming to visit while Nis worked. He liked working days so he could party nights. Ami was far older but didn't mind working night as the activism was a daytime activity. She wanted all animals treated fairly and humanely. Tony couldn't fault her for that. She was a much better conversationalist than Nis was too. She blamed that on the age that they were turned, Nis had been turned in the peak of his prime at twenty one. He had almost a decade on that. Ami was the 'youngest', body holding out at sixteen, but most wouldn't recognize that from how she dressed and spoke. Looking into her green eyes though, you'd know the truth, that she was much older than anyone knew, and her memories weren't good to her.

It reminded him of the type of woman Gibbs would probably go after. Gentle smiles, lots of laughter, enjoyed building things, and of course a redhead. 'Not too bad in the chest department either' Tony mused to himself with a chuckle as he escorted her to the door and placed a friendly kiss on her cheek as Gibbs got out of his car. She gave him a polite smile and wave, heels clicking down the sidewalk and to the curb. As she opened her door she paused and looked back at him.

"Take care of yourself Anthony, I'll see you soon." he gave her a grin and a nod, leaning against the doorframe as she drove off and Gibbs walked up.

"You sleepin' with her DiNozzo?" The question was tinged with something that Tony couldn't place. Was it irritation that he would go against the doctor's orders? Or that he'd dare to bring in some fine piece of ass when he was a guest. Perhaps it was jealousy coloring his voice, after all, if you didn't know her you'd think she was Gibbs' type, if a bit young seeming.

"Nah boss, we're just friends. If I was gonna have sex I your house, I'd invite you to join us. I mean I've got your six every other time why not in the bedroom too? It might turn into a bad remake of This Means War, a movie about two CIA agents who fall for the same girl. It's got Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy in it and you really should watch it sometime Gibbs. I promise it's worth it." Gibbs snorted and pushed past tony, into the house. "Long day boss?" He asked, heading over to the couch and perching on it.

"Yeah, but tomorrow will be longer. I'm takin you home DiNozzo." Tony made a slightly distressed sound. It wasn't that he didn't want to leave, he just didn't want to be alone again, but did his best to turn it into a contented one. He had come to enjoy the semi quiet evenings of watching Gibbs work on that boat. He knew if he stuck around much longer he'd get to figure out how the damn thing got out of there. But he also knew that he was getting better quick enough to be able to climb the stairs.

"And here I thought you were going to tell me you were falling for me and were going to ask me to stay." Tony replied coyly, giving a roguish grin, settling himself back onto the couch.

"You're a big boy DiNozzo." Gibbs walked to the kitchen getting a beer from the fridge, closing the topic. Not wanting to push his luck any further, he let the topic of going home drop. If he was going to be honest with himself he'd miss the way everything smelled so much like Gibbs, or rather how Gibbs smelled like everything here. Coffee, sawdust, wood and zest soap all mingled together with just the faintest hint of beer in the evenings to create something uniquely Gibbs. Something that would definitely be missed.

The final week of his sick leave was spent primarily in Night Delights, chatting to the bartenders and feeders, regaling them with (mostly true) stories of life as a federal agent, only more Sean Connery as James Bond. He also stayed topped up on blood helping him heal more quickly. His sickness had probably bought him some lung scarring that would take decades to heal at the very least. But the atmosphere of the club was just what he needed to stave off the loneliness that came from sitting at home alone, knowing that he wouldn't be joined later, barring a new case popping up.

So by the time his mandatory leave was up he was more than ready to come back to work, only to find Gibbs trying to convince him to take the final week, and Kate and McGee holding some sort of grudge that he may or may not deserve. Something about telling the girls downstairs not to ask so McGee wouldn't have to tell, and apparently trying to sleep with Kate in Paraguay. He pled the fifth to both things, and pretended he didn't hear them through the opening elevator doors. Of course, they were immediately called out onto a murder scene with a hill that was far too steep for his liking, and a bomb that he just happened to be holding the trigger to as Kate and McGee scrambled back up the hill.

"Anthony, you should have taken that extra week..." he muttered to himself knowing full well that if he could go back from this point to this morning and change his mind he wouldn't have. After all, he stands the best chance of surviving, even injured.

He let the key go and took off up the hill hearing his own pulse in his ears more than his footsteps or Kate and McGee making a fuss that the car was rigged to explode. He didn't even hear the explosion before he was slammed into the hillside, breath being knocked from his lungs as he was grateful that being a vampire came with enhanced physical skills for the umpteenth time since becoming a he hold crawled over the top of the hill it took all of his remaining physical strength to admit he lied about feeling fine, before laying on the crest of the hill and taking inventory of his injuries. Nothing severe, thank god, but a nap wouldn't be remiss.

He wasn't surprised when later Ducky wasn't thrilled to be checking Tony's vitals as he sat on a clean autopsy table. When the orders had come to lay down, he had decided to lay behind his desk, where McGee, the ass, had managed to get him in trouble with Kate. Again. Which got the attention of Gibbs, who banished him to Abby's lab. Not that he minded being around the goth girl, she just was easily excited, like a puppy being promised a walk, for example now her arms were around him like a vice, squeezing the air from his already complaining lungs and squealing in his ear.

He had just gotten comfortable on the floor of her lab, using the farting hippo as a pillow and chatting about the nuances of the case when Gibbs came to summon him to fight against yet another death threat. This month had to have set a record of personal vendettas. With a groan he got up, passing the hippo back to Abby and trotting out the door, following Gibbs back up to the bullpen, and being put back to work, along with being ordered to eat something.

He grimaced at the thought of human food at the moment, but he doubted that the team would believe it was a juice box if he put a straw in a pint of AB-. So he took a drink of water and nibbled half heartedly at the offered food, eating slowly so it wouldn't upset his stomach.

The next few days passed with a lot of desk work, leading into that fateful fourth day back. The trail of Ari Haswari led them up to a rooftop where Kate had just taken a bullet for Gibbs, in spite of the tension they couldn't help having a laugh about it. After all they believed that the threat was gone, and even though they hadn't gotten Ari, they had thwarted his plan, so it was considered to be a victory.

Until he heard the shot.

He looked to where it had come from hoping and praying that he'd be able to figure out who it was aimed at and react when Kate crumpled in front of him a neat little hole in the middle of her forehead. Instantly Tony was on the ground beside her, starting CPR and begging her to have a pulse. If she had even the faintest heartbeat he could fix her. "C'mon Kate... Don't do this... Don't let this be over." he mumbled, pressing his ear to her throat, hoping against hope for a miracle.

Instead all he got was Gibbs' arms around his midsection, hauling him to cover while the surrounding buildings were checked. He struggled, knowing that it was futile, but his sense of loyalty to the ex-secret service agent wouldn't stop him from blowing his secret if it meant she could be saved. He'd do the same thing for any of the team. His boss' arms stayed firm around him though and eventually he held still, leaning his face against the marine's shoulder, fighting the desperate, frustrated tears as best he could, because not only would it be embarrassing, but his father had always taught him that real men didn't cry. Having fangs and an augmented diet didn't change the fact that he was a real man. And so he wouldn't cry. Even if she was practically has sister. Even if they had been friends. Even if she was irreplaceable and vital to their team. He would not cry.

Surreptitiously he wiped his eyes then wiped his hand on his sock, taking a few more deep, calming breath of Gibbs' scent, the soothing effect helped by the arms still around him. After calming himself he pulled away, leaving flecks of Kate's blood as well as the blood that diluted in his tears on Gibbs' shoulder, both unintentional. He let himself be led back down the building, to assist in the hunt and search after giving his statement, feeling numb and detached. To his credit Gibbs wasn't making any sign of planning to tell what had just happened, but they were partners, they were supposed to have eachothers sixes like that. Tony shot him a grateful half smile though it was brittle and didn't reach his eyes. in return Gibbs gave him a nod and one of the many weights lifted off his shoulders allowing him to focus more whole heatedly on tracking down Kate's killer.

This would not go unpunished. Between him and Gibbs, maybe even McGee, Ari would pay dearly for what he did. Nobody broke apart their family and got away scot free. Perhaps he would even get Abby to teach him how to boil someone from the inside out without leaving a trace. Then he and Gibbs could go temporarily rogue and watch the bastard die.

But one thing was certain. No matter the method, the bastard would pay.

AN: Wow, I've gotten so much feedback so quickly, I love that you guys are loving this story so much so far. It isn't coming into a necessity yet, but once things start heating up this will be an edited version with the full version being put onto my writing tumblr: takumiwrites. tumblr. com (without the spaces) but I'll relink when it becomes a necessity. Though feel free to follow the story there as well.

Reviews:

sharkbaitz17, chinapps22, horsegirlrule and ziver69: I'm glad you liked it enough to comment, I hope the second chapter continues building some suspense, even though I'm still sticking to the main plot enough at this point that you should know vaguely what's happening next.

DS2010, Keembur, Guest, Blarney: The big reveal is something that I'm building up to, it's also when we'll know what Gibbs saw. However even though it's being plotted out and written out, there's no idea how soon it will come into play. But there is a pretty big hint as to the how, if you know where to look. A similar hint is also being plotted for chapter three, which I'll start working on sometime today I'm sure. So please be patient my darlings!

Happy reading!


	3. Chapter 3 No Buts

Life at NCIS was still topsy turvy, at least for Tony. They had lost Kate, and within a day or even less they had also gotten a new director and a Mossad agent who didn't seem to know getting her ducks in a row from counting her chickens before they hatched. He didn't trust Ziva, and neither did Abby. She was quickly becoming a favorite in the eyes of Gibbs though, like she was his new partner. He understood that she helped with the Ari incident, but if she took over his spot, then where would that put him? In the bullpen doing Probie work with McGee?

He could still smell the blood, bullet and flesh from that day, and kept telling himself that she could have been saved if he would have tried CPR harder, tried to get some of his blood into her anyways, though deep down he knew it was useless. There needed to be at least some sort of standalone pulse at first, until her blood was partway drained and his could take its place. Then while the initial phase of the change took place chest compressions could occur to keep the blood flowing as muscles and organs changed. By the second phase the person, if they had been in good health to start with would probably be awake and in pain, but legally alive. The final phase of the transformation sharpened their senses and reflexes. If the damage was severe enough there was a chance not all of it would heal, and brains were especially tricky at least until the virus knew what was supposed to go where. However even then a person could wind up having to let the muscles reteach the brain certain activities, like writing. Putting the letters into words was a brain activity, but writing the letters themselves were mostly muscle.

A 'deadly' headshot was what brought him to Baltimore. If it weren't for Ami's skills at creating new lives for vampires. She always bitched that it was much easier before those high tech computers got involved. In the past all she had to do was fake a birth and death certificate, maybe pay off a few people. Now she had to pay off more people to get the DNA and fingerprints changed. At least with a 'high profile' target like him. With time though they would be able to find someone who was on their side, so to speak. Maybe they could trust Abby? Now was not the time to think about recruiting though. Gibbs was looking at him expectantly.

"Go see Abby and get your gear for this mission." The man repeated and Tony jumped to his feet heading to the elevator.

"On it boss!" he pressed the button to take himself down to Abby's lab, only to hear Gibbs again as the doors were closing.

"Ziva's already down there." He was going to work a mission taking Ziva along? How was he supposed to get anything done if he was watching the Probiest Probie ever to probe? He was pleased when the doors opened to see Abby being all business with Ziva and looking rather sour about it, only for her to brighten and come running over for a hug.

"You're going to LOVE this mission Tony! You get to play a rich spy!" he patted the top of her head and shot a smug grin at Ziva.

"Very James Bond." Tony replied, putting on his best Sean Connery accent. "I'm guessing I get to save the world with you two hot babes on my arms?" he asked pulling one of his 'in character Bond' smirks, looking expectantly at Ziva as Abby took her place on his right arm snuggling up to him playfully. Ziva just scowled at them.

"If you two are done canoodling, I would like to get on with our mission."

"We're not canoodling, we're cavorting. Isn't that right Abby?" he asked, looking to their amused forensic scientist, who nodded emphatically.

"Same difference."

"Actually Zi-vah," Tony stated, smirking lecherously just to get under her skin, like he did with every woman that happened to get placed on their team or be in the unfortunate position of being around him when he had his reputation to protect. "Cavorting is goofing around like Abs and I were doing. Canoodling is," he took a step forward, grin softening as their eyes locked. "Much more intimate..." She didn't step back, but looked over his shoulder instead.

"Is that right DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, the faintest trace of irritation in his voice. "It's a good thing you know what canoodling is, you'll be doing a lot of it this weekend. Abby, gear 'em up."

***

Pretending to have sex with Sophie Ranier who was being played by the lovely, but slightly frigid, Ziva David, was not only a good workout, but it allowed his mind to wander. They had to work under the assumption that they were under surveillance, which was bad enough on his own, but he couldn't get the last stare from Gibbs out of his mind on top of it.

After walking in on him 'flirting' with Ziva, Gibbs had gotten in his face searching for something in his eyes, perhaps even in his soul. To everyone else it had probably looked like Gibbs was trying to intimidate him, show him who was boss, scold him for goofing off at such an important time in his career, but Tony knew better. Their bodies had been inches apart and Tony felt every cell in his body electrify, he had swallowed, but it was as if suddenly every ounce of liquid had run far from his mouth. He wanted to reach out impulsively, to try and place a hand on those lean muscles, feel them more properly now that he wasn't clouded by grief over Kate. He wanted to try and give an ounce of the comfort that he had been given that day on the roof. He wanted all of that, so suddenly that it took him off guard, only able to mumble a soft "Boss...", which was enough to snap Gibbs out of whatever trance he was in, causing him to turn and leave the room only leaving behind the scent that was pure Gibbs.

He never would have noticed these things had he not spent that week in close proximity with all things Gibbs. Yet with rule 12 in place, he didn't stand a chance, and that was even providing that Gibbs was bi, which Tony doubted severely. So he had filed it away in the back pocket of his mind to examine later when he wasn't so electrically charged from the incident.

His musing was interrupted by Ziva, who pushed at him some to get him to stop doing pushups and look at her. "Do you think they bought it?" her question was accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

"I did." He replied with a grin, Ziva just rolled her eyes.

"That's fairly obvious."  
Tony scowled, almost pouting at her. "For your information that's my knee."

She wasn't seeming to buy it. "Whatever. You can get off of me now." she shoved at him again, hands on his shoulders to mask it if the peeping toms were still watching.

"It's only been ten minutes." Tony paused looking somewhat smug, though he'd call it cocky and charming, "I have a reputation to protect."

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "We're not even sure if we're under surveillance yet, Tony."

He resumed the leering smile from earlier, eyes dutifully never Leaving hers. "You can't be too careful when you're undercover. Let's give it another forty minutes, just to be realistic."

"Realistic, huh?" The look in her eyes was far more mischievous than seductive, and somewhere the rational part of his brain told him that he should be worried, but he just widened his grin.

"Uh-huh."

"In that case…" The mischievous grin darkened and she shoved more ferociously at him and flipping their positions so she was straddling his waist. "I'm right on top."

"I can live with that." Any other day he would be glad to have someone as attractive as her on top of him, mostly naked and looking for the world like she was going to ravish him on the spot. But from spending the last ten minutes thinking about the look he and Gibbs had shared, he was unable to keep focused on the foreign beauty above him, instead it was the image of a naked Gibbs hovering above him, giving him another one of those soul searing looks, about to lean in and kiss him. He was sure Gibbs' lips would be soft yet still firm, ready to take control of the situation in bed just as well as he was able to take care of any situation that arose in the squad room. He was lost in his mini fantasy when all too suddenly a fist was jabbed into his stomach, knocking the wind from his still slightly fragile lungs. "What was that for?" he asked, gasping some.

The impish look was gone, replaced with a frustrated frown. "Because that was definitely not your knee."

Tony gave her an 'I'm sorry but not really' smile and wink still trying to get his breath back since she had removed her hand from his sternum and pressed her elbow into it instead. "Well you're just that hot." Tony groaned as she dug her elbow deeper into his stomach, making every trace of his budding erection disappear, a mixed blessing in its own right. As bisexual as Tony admitted he was (in private anyway) he wasn't about to admit being aroused by his boss. That just crossed too many lines. Not to mention Gibbs was a stickler for his rules.

A knock sounded at his door, and he answered it after McGee called that it was room service. He didn't bother cinching his robe shut, after all why not let the poor Probie see what senior field agents looked like. Layers of toned muscle from sports, but not so flashy that all the other person could think of was the muscle, and covered with a light sheen of sweat from the fake lovemaking. However when he was instructed to turn around and talk to those in charge he was surprised to find he was embarrassed at the knowledge of Gibbs and the director being able to see ALL of him. Yet he stood there preening for just a moment before closing his robe, hoping somebody enjoyed the view, even if it was one of the lonely techs in the corner.

The end of the op found Gibbs, Ziva and McGee busting through the door with a whole slew of FBI agents to rescue him, only to find that he had broken through the restraints and was in the process of exacting his revenge on and restraining the perp that had been beating on him.

"DiNozzo!" The sharp voice carried through the room, causing Tony to sit up on their criminal's back, hands on the just finished knot.

"Uh... Hey boss." Tony replied, looking almost sheepishly at his audience and wondering how long they had been standing there, having been too preoccupied with the one guy to pay any attention to something not deemed a threat. Absently, he wiped some of the blood off of his face, grinning when he saw the very slight upward lip quirk that Gibbs used as an on the job smile directed at him.

"Atta boy DiNozzo. Ziva, McGee: finish up here, Fornell will give you a ride back to NCIS. DiNozzo: with me." Tony jumped up looking between Ziva - who was looking rather miffed that she didn't get to do much beating up - and Gibbs.

"On one condition boss," there was a beat while Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him. "I want a divorce."

Gibbs actually chuckled a bit, shaking his head at his senior field agent. Tony could tell that they all had been worried, so he was trying to diffuse the tension. Judging by the look that had crossed both Ziva and McGee's faces, it worked. At Gibbs' tilt of the door Tony followed, both missions accomplished.

***

They had just gotten done with their squad room meeting, sucky sending Tony home, driven by Ziva, when Abby approached Gibbs, surprisingly hesitant. "Hey Gibbs? Can you come down to the lab with me? Alone?" here she paused, looking at the others who remained in the room. "It's important." Gibbs nodded and followed the normally exuberant goth girl down to her lab where there was no music for once, and watched as she pulled up three different slides on the screen in there. She looked at Gibbs expectantly when she was done. "What do you think?" It was obvious that she was worried, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

"It's a blob Abs." Gibbs stated looking at the three nearly identical pictures on the screen, all featuring a greenish yellow blob in what looked to be blood.

"Yes, it is a blob, only not really. It's a virus Gibbs, one that I've never seen before, and doesn't have a record in any database anywhere. It makes enzymes, but I don't know what they do..." Here she hesitated, causing Gibbs to see an 'and' coming on. She looked at the results once more, then at the floor. "And these slides are all of Tony's blood. This one is from tonight, I rushed it, then the middle one is from after he had the plague, I got his blood off your shirt the day Kate got shot," She faltered here, but continued after taking a breath, "and this one on the right is from a few months before he got sick." Gibbs didn't know when Tony had gotten injured enough so that his blood had gotten on him that day, but he hadn't noticed so it couldn't have been that bad. Although he had been so preoccupied with Ari, he probably wouldn't have noticed an elephant if it wasn't charging at him.

"Is it fatal?" Gibbs asked, worried about DiNozzo for the millionth time that week. He had often likened Tony to a virus, getting into a person's blood stream with that infuriatingly endearing personality of his, making people give more of a damn than they had wanted to. Especially people who were already conflicted about what they felt.

"I don't know... For all I know it could be a harmless glitch of DNA he picked up on one of his vacations as a kid. Or he could be dead before work tomorrow." Abby frowned, hugging her boss tightly. "We just lost Kate, I don't think I could handle losing Tony too..."

"We're not going to. I ordered him not to die. He listens when it's important."

"But..."

"No buts Abby. He will not die." Gibbs would make sure of that.

A/N: So the first part of the puzzle is being filled in. This is also when the story starts to helix off of the main plotline. It'll still cross back, which is why it's more of a helix than a whole separate plot, if that makes sense. 3

And also thank you to my lovely reviewers, jessieleigh528, sharkbaitz17, DS2010, keembur, combatcrazy, blarney, and chinapps22 it's your feedback that keeps me going.


	4. Chapter 4 Cherry Crush Revisited

The next few months passed in a blur. Abby, hoping for Ducky to have an idea about what the virus was, had filled him in on what she knew. Not having a clue but worried about Tony, Ducky called Gibbs down to talk about any oddities the other man had noticed.

"Perhaps any physical symptoms would shed some light on Anthony's ailment. Have either of you observed anything?" Abby was the first to shake her head before she reconsidered.

"Well sometimes if he's been working extreme hours because we've got a nasty case he'll be kinda pale, and get really cold, like almost frigid, but he always has some explanation for it so I don't know if it's really a symptom or not you know? It could just be Tony neglecting his blood sugar. Everyone's blood sugar gets a little hinky if they work a lot without stopping for a good meal. That's why I drink CafPow!. It keeps everything functioning in Abbyland. Maybe I should share some with him the next time he looks all pale. But if it's blood sugar then we aren't any closer to knowing what the virus does!" Abby made a frustrated sound at the end of her rambling train of thought, pacing around Ducky's office as she spoke. She didn't like autopsy still, but she was too worried about Tony to care at the moment, though she was sure she'd shudder about it later.

"Unfortunately we won't be able to tell the difference between virus and natural occurrence without taking blood, and that is not an option if we are trying to remain under the radar. I assume that the reason we are meeting like this is because we do not want Anthony to know that we're onto him if he is aware of the virus and is attempting to keep it a secret. Have you thought of anything Jethro?"

Here Gibbs was torn. He knew there was something off about the behaviors of his senior field agent. First, when Tony was recovering from the plague, he healed much quicker than the doctors said he was, more quickly than even he said he was. Gibbs had watched him from reflections in kitchen appliances when he was upstairs, and when his back was turned Tony would shift positions quickly enough that he should have been rendered breathless by the strain on his lungs with how solid he was. There was also that whole business with his 'friends' and that lipstick. He had never seen the smudge of a missed kiss that closely before, he knew that there was something decidedly unlike a kiss print about it. There was also the fact that he hadn't liked the thought of anyone getting close enough to kiss his injured agent, but at the moment that was neither here nor there. It was also completely out of left field so he didn't know anything else to do but bury it deeply back into his subconscious mind.

The second thing that didn't sit completely right with him was that Tony did not appear to have any kind of scar on him. The unhindered view in MTAC had allowed Gibbs to do a damage check on the other man, to catalogue any scar tissue that could have, or rather - should have, built up from the various stabbings and shootings from his time as a cop in Baltimore, Philly, and Peoria. At least that would be the story if anyone bothered to ask, like their director. What had started as a cursory glance at the man out of amusement had turned into him scanning every inch of the younger agent, taking in each ridge of bone and slight dip between the muscles, the fact that he was flushed, but not overly so, the way he seemed proud of the fact he was flashing not only his boss and a bunch of tech personnel, but the head of a government agency. He stuck to playing the amused parent role with this although he knew that the images would haunt him later. Unfortunately he would never be able to act on those feelings with the agent for several reasons: A) There was no chance of Tony reciprocating, B) They were both men and even if the sexual expectations of military personnel were becoming less stringent, there was no way in hell this would go over well - not that that one was particularly important, it still had to be included for completeness though, C) Rule twelve, and perhaps the most important thing, D) He was straight damn it! He had been married more than once and had a daughter, not to mention there were absolutely no problems in the bedroom department with any of the women he slept with, or even alone for that matter. So there was nothing else to do but chalk the attraction down to the fact that he had recently nearly lost Tony and lost Kate, and as a result he was being unduly attentive.

However there was nothing out of the ordinary on Tony's body, at least to Gibbs' notice. Nothing except a clear expanse of tanned, toned and - if the lack of hair on his chest was anything to go by - waxed flesh. It seemed that no matter how much junk food Tony ate, he was always ready to go, never seeming to be slowed by a meal, apparently never gaining an ounce either. That realization made the fact that he had never seen Tony actually finish a whole meal in one sitting stand out as if put under a spotlight. Maybe he couldn't eat that much at once due to the virus, or maybe he just didn't like junk food that much.

"Jethro?" A voice cut into his musing, causing him to blink and shake his head.

"I don't have anything that could help Duck." He admitted, not wanting to share his speculations and admit just how much attention he paid to his agent. Not until he had something more He was saved from any further questions by his cell phone ringing. Hoping that it was something mundane that he could play off as important, he answered only to find out that a Petty Officer had been found dead in the upper level of a club. "Better get Palmer Ducky. We've got a crime scene." Picking up a pen and paper, Gibbs wrote down the address of the club before motioning for Abby to follow him and heading toward the elevator.

"Abby, I need a favor." The words were out of his mouth as soon as the elevator doors closed, hand reaching out to flip the killswitch so they would stay put and have a moment to talk alone.

"Name it Bossman."

"I need you to find me a replica of what Cherry Crush lipstick looks like when a kiss was off center. It needs to be partially wiped off so the only bit that's left is here." he swiped his thumb down from the corner of his mouth, where the stain on Tony's face had been. Sensing that this had something to do with their Tony puzzle she nodded.

"Think the virus is transmittable?" she asked as Gibbs flipped the switch again, setting the elevator back into motion.

"Something like that." He replied, as the elevator doors opened and Abby stepped into her lab. Gibbs rode up to the bullpen to see the team actually doing work for once, although Tony was explaining the importance of idioms in a movie that nobody aside from the videophile had never heard of much less seen. He paused, watching how animated his second in command was as he explained the movie, deciding that the enthusiasm was definitely part of his charm.

He began walking again, striding through the bullpen and grabbing what little of the gear he didn't carry on him off of his desk. "Gear up, there's a dead petty officer in the top room of a nightclub." He didn't wait for their responses before striding off to the elevator that would take them to the garage, though a chorus of 'On it!'s rang out, as a shuffle of canvas signaled the team grabbing their gear and jogging to follow before the elevator doors closed, forcing them to take the stairs.

The fairly short ride was silent, aside from one 'So where are we headed?' from Tony, which was only answered by a shake of the head. He had recognized the club owner's name, and wanted to see Tony's reaction when they showed up to see her standing and waiting for them.

Soon enough they pulled up behind a warehouse where the redhead was waiting. It took Tony getting out of the van with some gear, nearly bumping into her in order for him to recognize where they were. When it hit him he nearly dropped the bag he was holding but recovered it fairly easily.

"Hello Tony." She stated pleasantly, "And a good morning to you as well Agent Gibbs."

"Hey Ami..." Tony responded, still a little shell-shocked that they were at Night Delight.

A/N: This might be the last regularly posted chapter for a while, I have both my wrists in braces due to a possibility of carpal tunnel syndrome, which makes typing and using any kind of computer or ipad a bit difficult. Have no fear though, I have the next few chapters mentally planned out, and my muse is going strong, so I should have no problem continuing, it just might take a bit longer than you're getting used to.

Also, I'd like to point out, since there was a little bit of confusion, in all chapters that I follow an episode in, I don't follow it exactly. I take the bits that I like, get rid of the bits that I don't, and change parts as needed to fit my plot. I'll also be moving whole seasons around, for example I'm thinking of putting hiatus after Leon takes over, and perhaps nixing the whole La Grenouille storyline even if Tony does happen to still date Jeanne. No clue yet if I'm going to still have the team fragment like Leon did at the beginning of his directorship. Perhaps that will be after Tony and Gibbs hook up. We'll just have to see. Feel free to share your thoughts.

Another thank you to my reviewers, who are growing far larger in numbers than any of my other stories on any account I have ever posted, as well as the people who have put me on alert. It makes my day getting at least two pages of new email notifications for people reviewing and alerting for each chapter. You guys are awesome.


	5. Chapter 5 Night Delight

McGee, did you know that Tony came to this club?" Ziva asked quietly while Ami explained how she found the dead Petty Officer and that she knew by the dog tags to call them instead of homicide.

"No I didn't. It seems a bit seedy, even for him." McGee replied, just as quietly while eying the sign on the back of the door. The sign was plain white, but had the club's logo on it, the tittles above the 'i's looking like sparkling drops of blood, but that was probably a coincidence since the rest of the writing was red and somewhat glittery as well. What they didn't know was that it was the blood drop tittles that distinguished them as vampire friendly.

"If you two are done gossiping like old biddies," Tony stated, not turning towards them, but frowning none the less, "then you can go do your jobs." Ziva and McGee looked at Gibbs for confirmation of the order and jolting into motion at the subtle nod from Gibbs.

"I'll photograph." Ziva volunteered, brandishing the camera and starting toward the door, entering with Ducky and Palmer when Ami opened the door.

"And I'll bag and tag." McGee added scampering after Ziva. Tony didn't move at first, proud of the fact that the two newbies listened to him in front of their boss and his friend. Ami couldn't suppress a scherzando giggle, having seen the subtle nod that Gibbs had given the other two. There was a beat, then a second, before a very slightly amused yet irritated look crossed Gibbs' face as Tony didn't head off to work immediately. A hand raised up silently and cuffed Tony in the back of his head, jump starting him again.

"I'll dust for prints, on it boss!" Wary of another headslap Tony took off at a jog, leaving Ami watching Gibbs quietly for a moment, the only sound a tinkling laughter muffled by her hand.

"Tony was right about you." Ami stated, not planning on telling him exactly what she meant by that, leading the way in through the store room to behind the bar and out onto the main floor, heading towards the now closed off VIP area. "I called in the staff that was working last night, not that there's many of them, even though we're open as a bar most of the day." she gestured to the tables that took up the dance floor in front of the sound booth, some patrons watching them with curious and suspicious eyes. As they passed the touchpad that acted as a jukebox during the day and a direct feed to Jayden's request server pausing to peer in one of the windows as they passed. "Our DJ works nights only, and he's sleeping on his beanbag chair in there. When you want to talk to him I'll take you back there. It's difficult for him to navigate with all of the tables. He may be blind, but Jayden is one of the best DJs I've ever worked with." She unlocked the high gate that blocked the way to the VIP area and led Gibbs through.

Where the rest of the club was classy, but fairly light colored hardwood, the lounge that they found themselves in was decorated in warm hues of mahogany and crimson, plush velvet booths isolated from one another, all with little touch pads on the backs of the tables to order drinks or snacks. Gibbs ignored it in favor of setting out his notebook in a back corner, sitting behind the table.

"Let's start with you. Have a seat and tell me what you know."

"Well I work nights and stay in one of the rooms upstairs. There are a few spares that we rent out to patrons that get their keys confiscated. It's less than a cab ride. The man upstairs was one such patron. His name is Morrison and he checked in..." She paused here, pulling out her keys and unlocking the order pad from it's case and typing in commands to get at her other files, "at two am. Alone. Monique got him set up in his room, I went to check an hour ago and he was dead. I checked for a pulse, tried CPR, no dice. Called you guys first."

"We'll need your prints. Did you notice Petty Officer Morrison getting into any altercations last night?"

"I didn't notice anything, but Matt, Mo, or Kay might. Though with Kay, you'll need someone with sign language." She lowered her voice here, checking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being watched by the bouncer. Convinced she turned back around, speaking just above a whisper. "He has autism, and so his verbal language isn't the best. But he's a good guy Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs quirked an eyebrow, jotting the important things that she had said down. "Let me talk to the last one to see him alive." He instructed, prompting a nod as Ami stood up.

He was alone for a few minutes before a brunette with shoulder length curly hair pulled up into a ponytail was shoved up the stairs by a taller, more muscular man who looked quite a bit like the young woman skulking towards him. They had the same face shape and brilliant emerald eyes. She was scowling and sporting a healing split lip and quite the nasty black eye as well. Maybe she was the one to talk to about the dead sailor. "Name?"

"Monique James. And before you ask, no, I didn't kill him." The girl, Monique, spat as she sat down and crossed her arms, the expression of contempt.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow now, "You were the last one to see him alive last night." Here he paused, gesturing at her face with a pen. "And those are some pretty nasty bruises on your face, I'm willing to bet my people are going to find similar wounds on our victim."

"We fought when I took him upstairs yeah." She stated, shrugging, "But I didn't kill him, even if he is a raving douche."

Gibbs grit his teeth and he could swear the girl smirked at him when she noticed. "Gonna tell me what you fought about?" he asked in clipped tones.

"I could," She watched Gibbs give her a no nonsense glare and she sighed loudly. "Fine fine, I'll tell you. I took the guy upstairs because he was wasted as fuck and when I went to unlock the door, the bastard pinned me and started kissing me like my being there meant he was gonna get lucky. Not only do I have a boyfriend, I don't like the military types. So I socked him one. That pissed him off and he swung back and caught me in the eye. I opened the door and knocked him onto the bed, went to leave, he called me a selfish dyke and threw his shoe at me knocking me into the door. There's still probably blood on the back of it. I wanted to stab his ass, but I didn't. I went back downstairs and filed a report. Then I went back to work. I'm a bouncer. Can't say I'm sorry he's dead though."

Gibbs nodded, noticing something peculiar about her teeth. It could have been a trick of the light, but he could have sworn the teeth in her mouth shifted when she got mad. He made a note in his book to think about that later. "I'll need your fingerprints and a copy of that report. Send the next one up."

"You won't need the fingerprints, I'm in the system." She stated as she stood up and walked off. He heard a shout of 'Yo Mattie, you're up!' from the girl and shook his head, she was a spitfire, that was for sure, he made a note about her being in the system in his notebook before picking up his phone and dialing McGee, telling him simply to check for blood behind the door before hanging up. As he did the tall man returned carrying a file folder, limping slightly as he walked up the stairs and over to him.

"Matt James, and let me be the first to apologize for my sister. She never knows when to keep her mouth shut." The man offered him a winning, sheepish smile as he extended his hand, and Gibbs shook it. "I've brought a copy of the lounge entrance records for last night. Your vic came over and started making a fuss, wanted to talk to one of the VIP members. Said it was important. The guy that he wanted to talk to let him in, they both signed, the vic left looking pissed about an hour later and went back to the bar." Matt passed Gibbs the folder and he opened it, frowning when he read who the Petty Officer went to see. "You don't need to take my prints either. But unlike my sister, I used to be a cop, not a delinquent."

Gibbs nodded, jotting that down in his notebook as well. "Thanks for the list. Send in the next one."

The rest of the day passed quietly, Gibbs not letting anyone look at the file, and stayed down in Abby's lab watching her work and staring at the two names as if they held the secrets of the universe. There was a ding and Gibbs looked up expectantly.

"The blood found on the door is a match to Monique James. Just like you said it would be Gibbs." Abby stated proudly, hands on her hips and smiling.

"I've got one more favor for you Abs. One involving our little project."

"Name it Bossman." Abby grew serious now and bit her lip wondering what he knew that she didn't.

"Look for that virus in the blood sample."

"Your gut telling you something?"

"Yeah. It's saying that whatever Tony has, he's not the only one." Abby nodded, pulling out a pair of pictures from her desk drawer before putting the blood sample slide under her microscope.

"These are the photographs of the lipstick you wanted. I did one where the print was smudged and one where that spot had been completely missed." Gibbs looked at the marks and frowned some as Abby started fiddling with her microscope. The thing on the corner of Tony's mouth had looked more like a drip, and was a different shade of red entirely. Abby gasped then looked up at Gibbs. "She has the virus too!"

"CafPow! in your fridge Abs." Gibbs said walking out of the lab, taking the photographs with him. He was fairly certain he figured out what Tony was hiding, but he would need either a confession the first time around or to catch him in the act of taking blood to confirm it. Because without the hardcore proof, he doubted that Tony would tell him if he didn't want to.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs stated nodding his head in the direction of the elevator. Immediately Tony jumped up and followed him.

"On your six boss!" Gibbs noticed his agent was not questioning where they were going, even though he wanted to. Instead he settled for looking rather perplexed when Gibbs stopped the elevator.

"You know you can tell me anything Tony." Gibbs stated quietly, keeping his gaze.

"I know boss. We're like the dynamic duo, like Scooby Doo and Shaggy, like peanut butter and chocolate." Tony said, cutting the similes short at the sterner look from his Boss.

"Is there anything you want to share?" Gibbs saw Tony think it over, weighing options against consequences, before shaking his head.

"Not a thing Gibbs, why?" Tony's voice was confident, but Gibbs could see the worry in his eyes when the file folder was opened.

"Then why didn't you tell me that you were in the club with our dead Petty Officer last night?" Gibbs asked, and he could see the gears turning in Tony's head, as well as relief.

"I was checking out the validity of what he had wanted to talk about. When he demanded to talk to me he was already pretty drunk boss, insisted someone was stalking him. Wanted me to call in a protective detail with no evidence. Got pissed off when I wouldn't and stormed off to the bar. That was at about eleven. I watched for a while and didn't see anything strange, left around twelve thirty or one. I was gonna tell you but we got called off on the case and it slipped my mind. Won't happen again."

"It better not DiNozzo." Gibbs stated, angry, delivering a hard slap to the back of Tony's head, causing the man to wince slightly even though he refused to rub the spot. Reaching over, Gibbs flicked the switch, sending the elevator back into motion.

A/N: Thanks for all of the well wishes everyone. The braces are helping and I'm learning how to type better on my ipad with them on. I just need to remember to take breaks haha. The biggest obstacle seems to be my cat, who wants to lay on top of my ipad or will reach out and touch it which makes things move or close or type random letters. But I love him anyways.


	6. Chapter 6 Maddie Tyler

Whether or not Tony would have believed that day in the elevator was not the low point of his week was irrelevant, because the high that came from catching Petty Officer Morrison's killer was quickly snuffed out with the arrival of Maddie Tyler and her Marine stalker. From there, everything just fell apart in Tony's world, causing him to take crazy risks in order to pull things back under control.

After Gibbs had confronted him in the elevator, Tony was mentally freaking out. He excused himself to the bathroom after Gibbs started directing the team, making no move to include him, even handing over his 'lead' to Ziva.

Thankful that the bathroom was empty, Tony turned the cold tap all the way and cupped some water in his hands surprised to find he was trembling slightly. "Get ahold of yourself Anthony." He chided, splashing the water onto his face. "Gibbs doesn't know." He quickly checked the room again making sure Gibbs wasn't in the room. He could just imagine the older man standing there, that calculating gaze settled on him.

_'_Doesn't_ know what DiNozzo?' he could hear the voice, so real in his head and he shook his head, a response fathering under the azure orbs. 'Know that you can't stand the thought of not being the top agent in my book. Know that you want me to pull you close and make you scream.' Tony could just picture Gibbs walking closer, stalking him like a lion hunts it's prey, all smirks and dangerous eyes. He pictured Gibbs pressing him against the sink and ghosting lips across his neck, his jaw, his ear. Whispering 'That you're a vampire and thirsty for me?' before biting the shell of his ear hard drawing a shudder and gasp from him._

Tony shook his head and plunged it under the now icy water from the sink slowly releasing the white knuckle grip he had on the edge of it, knowing that he had to keep himself under control, or else his job would be toast. Ami had mentioned a few years ago that sooner or later he'd start feeling the urge to settle down and that it'd be really hard to resist at first, but got easier. It was a sign of vampiric maturity, and always insured you'd have enough blood to survive in an emergency.

Why in the hell were the survival instincts always the most damning to his career? Ami was bound to laugh when he told her, though if he were being honest, it was sort of funny. Turning off the water he let the frigid liquid drip off his hair and down his face as he made an attempt to force the goosebumps to subside, telling himself it was from the cold water.

When he walked back into the squad room all of the team's eyes, minus Gibbs, were on him. Gibbs was gone, which is probably the reason that Ziva and McGee stared so openly at him, as of he had sprouted an extra head. He grabbed a towel from under his desk and started drying his hair off. "do you have something to say Probie?" Tony asked stalking over to the man's desk and staring down at him menacingly.

"Just was wondering what took so long, Gibbs was pretty...uh... mad..." the hesitation in McGee's voice told him that Gibbs was more than mad, he was livid. Just what he needed. "And he told me to give you these so you could start making calls."

Great now he was being told by McGeek to do all of the McGruntwork. "Did he say what I was supposed to be looking for?"

"He said to see if anyone had noticed anybody following Morrison or if anyone noticed him acting strangely." Tony stalked back to his desk and started making the calls, glowering at his phone and then the list of names as he dialed, missing the looks of supreme understanding that Ziva and McGee swapped over his predicament.

It took three hours for him to get a lead, and then Gibbs wouldn't even let him track it down with the rest of them. A wave of irritation washed through him and he felt the need to just hit something. Hard. But he was at work and couldn't, so he just let a breath out though his nose, and started punching in the next number on the list.

Eventually after the third lead, Gibbs had a suspect, that Tony would bet was guilty. His name was Aleksandr Volkov and his dark looks were every bit as sinister and lupine as his surname would suggest. But he wasn't w wolf. He was a vampire, of that Tony had no doubt. The way he stared through the mirrored glass, right at Tony, smirking while Gibbs was talking, as if saying _'I could tear the throat out of your boss before you could rescue him. Whose territory is it now, bitch?'_

Tony kept his eyes locked on Gibbs, every muscle taut, ready to spring forwards and crash through the glass if need be while suppressing a growl. The nerve of that dirtbag.

Hours passed and finally they got a confession. With a yawn Volkov had admitted that he killed the Petty Officer, for noncompliance and going to a federal agent. If he had kept his mouth shut and done what he was told then neither of them would be in the positions they were in.

Determining that he had been working alone, Gibbs hauled the guy off to be processed and thrown in jail. It was during his absence that a blonde girl came in looking for Gibbs. She was very pretty and looked nervous as hell, letting McGee take her to the lounge and sit with her while she waited. Gibbs had come back, stalwartly refusing to look at Tony, or even acknowledge his existence, until he had rambled off Maddie Tyler's age instead of the reason she was there, which neither of them really knew. Then he was fixed with a glare so fierce that he took a step back swallowing nervously and caught totally off guard. He had figured that Gibbs was mad at him for forgetting to mention he had talked with Morrison, but there was no reason for him to be that mad... Unless he knew that Tony was hiding more things, but couldn't confront him about it for some reason.

God he hoped that it was just a combination of a bad day and Gibbs needing to get laid just as badly as Tony himself did.

When the man came storming back into the room he was followed by Maddie, and they left together, Gibbs saying nothing more than 'Go home and get some rest. All of you.' as he grabbed his things. Tony didn't need to be told twice, and opted for the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. He could wind up waiting a long time, especially if Gibbs wanted to talk to the girl privately for a while.

Watching Gibbs drive off while following the girl Tony walked to his car and got in, yawning with the sudden realization that it was way later than they usually got out. Driving home quickly he climbed the stairs up to his apartment and went straight to his bedroom, locking the front door behind him. As he walked he undid his shirt and shimmied out of his pants, leaving his clothes laying in the hallway without even making an attempt to toss his shirt and pants into the hamper as he passed his bathroom. Falling into bed, he was asleep nearly instantly.

Anthony DiNozzo awoke from what was possibly the best dream of his life, with the worst boner of his life, by his cell phone ringing. Yelling frustratedly into the spare pillow he kept in his bed, he picked up his cell phone and stomped, albeit gingerly, into his bathroom, dropping his boxers and turning on the shower before he answered the phone.

"What?" He snapped, all but snarling into the phone.

"Took you long enough DiNozzo. Get your ass in here. Maddie Tyler's been kidnapped." Gibbs' snarl was equally fierce, if not more so and it was a complete one eighty from the tender tones of his dream. The line went dead and in a bout of frustration the offending device was chucked into the hamper as Tony got into the steaming shower.

Almost immediately his hand was at his aching length almost surprised at how hard he was from such a simple dream about his boss. Such a simply hot dream that is. He stroked the shaft similarly to how Dream-Gibbs had, bracing himself against the wall of the shower as he pretended that his hand was larger, warmer and a bit rougher. It wasn't long before he was shouting 'Jethro!' and shooting translucent and slightly iridescent strands of semen against the wall of the shower, letting it be washed away almost immediately as he recovered, catching his breath and hating the way his lungs still ached from any kind of physical activity.

As soon as he recovered enough he set to washing up, before hearing his phone ring again. Ignoring it, he finished his shower, and stepped put, wrapping a towel around his waist before setting at shaving, brushing his teeth and styling his hair. He then walked out of his bathroom and gathered his discarded clothes from the night before, returning to the bathroom and added the boxers from this morning to the pile in his arms before swapping them for the phone in his hamper, as he went across the hall to get dressed.

By the time Tony showed up for work Gibbs was still furious that he hadn't answered every single call and the bullpen was a-flutter with activity, McGee, Ziva and Gibbs all trying to locate Maddie Tyler.

"What do I need to be doing to help?" Tony asked, sitting down at his desk and firing up the computer.

"Your damned job!" Gibbs' reply was immediate and unhelpful so Tony turned to McGee instead.

"I'm running checks on Haas' cell phone, you can cross reference with places that he used to like to hang out at." Tony nodded and started to work immediately. Gibbs seemed to get a lead before any of them, and headed off without sharing what it was, ordering them all to stay. Tony waited all of three seconds before telling McGee to pull up whatever it was that Gibbs has seen. The younger agent had tried to argue, but a well placed growl had put McGee scampering, fearing the demon that lurked within DiNozzo to produce such a dangerous rumble from the normally affable field agent. As soon as they found it Tony printed a copy for himself and headed towards the stairs. "Tony where are you going?" McGee called after him, and Tony answered without turning or breaking stride.

"Watching my partner's six."

Tony caught up with Gibbs just in time to see the car go careening off the pier. Without thinking he got out of his car and dialed 911 as he ran to the edge, giving their location and a brief synopsis of the incident in one breath before diving gracefully into the water after them, cell phone dropping somewhere into the depths as he hit the water. Propelling himself towards the car he found that both doors were jammed and so he had no choice but to go through the windshield.

Balling his hand into a fist he summoned every bit of vampiric speed and powe he could and rammed his fist into the windshield, shattering it and slicing his arm and hand to ribbons in the process. the pain from the cuts made him accidentally inhale and swallow some of the water, but he ignored the burning in his lungs as he continued to work.

He didn't care what happened to him at that point in time, even though the wounds grew as he pulled the glass apart so a body could fit through without being harmed. He grabbed Maddie first, dragging her out and onto the pier at Gibbs' request. Coughing once before taking as deep a breath as he could manage, Tony flipped around in the water diving back down to get his boss. Icy fear gripped him when he saw that the man had seemingly dropped unconscious in the twenty or thirty seconds he had spent pulling Maddie to the surface. He swam through the hole he had made, kicking the steering wheel to get it to unlock before grabbing Gibbs and hauling him back onto the peer as well.

Climbing up himself, Tony immediately checked for pulses in them both before he started CPR on his boss. He pleaded he whole time he was working, to not have to kiss him (because he doubted he could stop) that he'd take a breath and cough out the water he had inhaled. After each set he switched between the two bodies, but she was the first to start coughing, so he focused completely on Jethro, tears beading at the corners of his eyes. He could not, no, would not lose another teammate. Especially not one that he cared so deeply for. Tony could hear sirens in the distance, but knew they weren't going to get here in time Tony leaned in to bite, deciding to try and turn him then pray for the best when he felt a pulse flutter under his lips as he sought the best spot to plant his mark. Encouraged to doing things the human way, he went for whispering in the man's ear instead. Before giving two more rescue breaths. As if by a miracle those were the final needed stimulus and Gibbs began to cough.

Time resumed its normal flow and he saw Gibbs open his eyes and smile, reaching out and grasping the young woman's hand. The gesture's beginning had him beaming, thinking he would finally get a pat on the head for doing some good, but when Gibbs reached for Maddie his stomach twisted painfully and he moved to the end of the pier, beginning to cough and spit out all of the brackish water he had inhaled and swallowed. The paramedics arrived, McGee, Ziva and Ducky hot on their heels.

He hadn't realized that anyone had come until the Medical Examiner knelt beside him, opening the kit he had brought and beginning to tend to Tony's injured arm, before checking his lungs and wrapping a warm blanket around him. He hadn't realized he was shivering until then.

"You did good my boy." Dr. Mallard stated with a soft pat on the shoulder. Tony snorted and rolled his eyes, knowing that the one person who had a real opinion in this case was too busy trying to find something of his lost daughter in this girl. Tony didn't blame him though, he just thought it would be nice to see a fraction of the favor Abby got every once in a while. Was that really too much to ask?

"Gibbs doesn't think so. I'm willing to bet I don't even get one of those stupid 'good job' nods that he gives to McGee. I'm the senior agent, I should get more recognition, they should look up to me, and instead..." he knew he sounded petulant, but it stung to constantly get overlooked because Gibbs thought since he was the senior field agent he didn't need recognition for doing his job.

"Jethro thinks very highly of you Anthony, he's just had a lot on his mind that he doesn't know how to deal with."

"Like what Ducky? Gibbs can handle anything, he's Gibbs."

"Like falling in love." Tony snorted at that but found himself feeling sick, resisting the urge to lean over and gag.

"Gibbs is in love with her?" Tony looked at where the girl had been laid out on the pier. "But she's not even a redhead."

"Jethro is capable of change. Whether people believe it or not." Ducky looked around and shivered slightly in the cold. "But now is not the time to discuss this. Let's get you home." Ducky motioned to McGee and Ziva who hauled the dizzy and numb man up, before putting him in the warm car, Ducky following. As he was checking with the paramedics he heard Tony insisting that since there was no more danger, McGee should drive. After being in the back seat for the ride to the pier Ducky was inclined to agree with his decision.

A/N: So this is the first truncated scene you guys, theres what I hope to be a very lovely dream sequence, involving Tony and Gibbs, and it's on my tumblr. Its my first sexy scene and it was difficult to write so I hope you guys enjoy.

My tumblr is takumiwrites. Tumblr. Com only without the spaces. Enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7 What have I done?

The next few weeks passed without much chaos, at least as far as everyone else knew. Gibbs stayed somewhat sour and stared at Tony surreptitiously whenever he could. But since Tony was watching Gibbs surreptitiously as well he noticed. But he wasn't sure if Gibbs noticed him noticing.

Tony however had been trying to work his way back into his boss' good graces. He would leave with the team, and come back an hour later, after a quick bite to eat, and work through the night. He'd leave an hour before the rest of the team was due to arrive, grabbing another bite or a half an hour power nap before sauntering in five minutes late or less as usual. It was counter productive to his goal, but if people, or rather, if Gibbs noticed him being the first one there, them he'd think to have Abby or McGee check the security tapes. Then everyone would know he wasn't sleeping and Gibbs would be even more mad.

If anyone was suspicious about how he was alternately silent as a grave or talking up a storm nobody said anything. The only out of the ordinary thing was that Ducky called Gibbs down while they were working on cold cases. Tony dismissed it as the older man wanting company other than Palmer.

"You wanted to see me Duck?" Gibbs asked, leaning against the door frame, arms folded across his chest.

"Yes, Jethro, it's rather important so thank you for making it down here as quickly as you did. Please close the door and sit down." Gibbs nodded, following the Doctor's instructions, sinking into the offered chair, watching as a cup of tea was stirred and then sipped. "I know coffee is more your style, but may I get you a cup of tea?"

"No thanks Duck, just tell me what this is about."

"Alright then. I had noticed in the days preceding the Maddie Tyler incident, and continuing afterward, you have been unusually strict on our dear Anthony. I wish to know why."

"Is that what all this is about? You thinking I'm being too strict on DiNozzo? Well if that's all you have to say then save your breath. I have my reasons."

"Would you at least tell me what those reasons are?"

"You're not going to let me go without answering are you Ducky?" the old man chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

"Heavens Jethro, you may not be as young as you used to be, but neither am I. I hardly doubt I could stop you if you sincerely wished to leave. I am just asking as a friend, for you to tell me what your reasons are before I show you the things that have come to our notice."

"'Our' Duck?" Gibbs asked raising an eyebrow.

"All in good time Jethro, all in good time. Please enlighten me first."

"Well Doctor Mallard." Gibbs began, settling further back in his chair and taking a deep breath. "DiNozzo's been slacking for weeks. Not only being unreachable for stretches of time, but withholding information, disobeying orders, leaving early and coming in late. And now I've been catching him forgetting things and falling asleep at his desk."

"He's also been strangely silent or overly talkative hasn't he?"

"Yes, but what does that have anything to do with it?"

"Well I believe, and have proof, that Anthony is overworking himself to try and please you, because you hold him to a higher standard than the other agents on the team. A standard that he believes he is not meeting. For example that day on the pier..."

"That day he disobeyed orders." Gibbs was scowling now, adjusting his folded arms, gripping them more tightly. He could sense where Ducky was going with this and he didn't like it one bit.

"And if he hadn't you and young Miss Tyler would be dead. But that is not the point of this. We arrived after the paramedics, but not by much. The way we had arrived, I was able to watch that little exchange between you and Miss Tyler rather clearly. When Tony removed himself from the situation he looked like you had just shot his dog. His arm was bleeding rather badly and he was coughing up that vile water, shaking so hard I thought he would fall in."

"Which is why I told him to never do something like that again, and put him on desk work so he could recover." And gave him a healthy head slap for good measure.

"But you never praised him for a job well done?" Gibbs sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"I didn't think he needed it."

"Well I'd like you to think about that again, after you watch this. Abigail?" From a connecting room, Abby walked in, laptop in hand.

"Hi Gibbs..." The greeting was sheepish, and Gibbs knew that he wouldn't like what she had to say. "I want to start by explaining. This little inquest was kind of my doing. I would come in and find files from Tony on my desk. Ones that he didn't hand me before he left, with you and the rest of the team. So I did some checking. I found this on the security feed. Every night since after the incident where you almost drowned. Which was not cool Gibbs. What would we have done if we lost you?" Abby paused, shaking her head. "But that's not what we're here about. We're here about Tony." She turned the laptop towards him, before standing at his shoulder. "And I can tell you what he's saying."

She pressed play on the laptop, and Tony was seen walking in with his head down, the picture of exhaustion. The time stamp said it was about an hour after they had left. He sat at his desk and pulled a file out, staring at it with his head propped up by his hands. He sat there like that for a good five minutes, not moving, just staring through the closed file. It was almost as if the tape had stopped before Tony reached up and smacked himself in the back of the head, by the way he winced it looked to be harder than necessary.

"Get a hold of yourself DiNozzo!" Abby narrated, trying to sound like a gruff version of Tony. "You'll never find your way back to being the best agent by slacking off like this." She watched the screen for a moment, letting Gibbs see the the lengths that Tony was going to in order to win back his favor. "he spends most of the night either pretending he's you yelling at him more, to keep himself awake, or he's growling to himself."

"I've seen enough." Gibbs said reaching out and tapping keys on the keyboard until the feed stopped. No wonder Tony was falling apart so spectacularly. God what had he done?

"There is one other matter that requires your notice before you go and confront the boy." Ducky stated, setting his cup down. "I am aware of how much you care for Anthony. You will need to tread lightly with him while he's this exhausted. Or you could risk losing him."

"He's not going to quit on us Duck." Gibbs stated matter of factly.

"That is not what I mean and you know it Jethro."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said, standing and heading out of the Medical Examiner's office. He wasn't ready to admit to the very real possibility of falling apart if Tony ever got hurt or killed, and now he was flooded with guilt for not realizing what he had done. All he could hope for was that Tony would forgive him for being a royal bastard.

"Abigail, I do believe that we should be adding 'stamina' to the list of Anthony's physical symptoms." Ducky stated looking at the laptop screen before focusing on Gibbs retreating form.

***

Tony was nearing the end of his rope. A person could only drink red bull and avoid sleep for so long before they crashed. Vampires could do it longer but they weren't indestructible. Eventually sleep would be needed, no matter where they were. Two weeks was about Tony's limit, though he was sure if Gibbs was a vampire then he'd be able to do over a month easy. But he wasn't Gibbs.

As Gibbs walked into the bullpen he looked at McGee and Ziva, who chorused 'Hi Gibbs' causing Tony to mumble something about not falling for it again, not moving from what looked to be a precariously balanced position. If he startled Tony he could seriously hurt himself. Motioning for the other agents to silently go for a walk he waited for them to comply before crouching by Tony's side, placing one hand on the wheeling office chair before removing the file from the young man's lap.

"Up and at 'em DiNozzo." Gibbs said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes - a habit that he had caught himself picking up from the younger man - when Tony jerked in a way that would have sent his chair rolling back and the files skittering off his lap.

"I am up boss!" He stated, unable to fight a yawn. "What do we got? Another murderer? A kidnapper?"

"Just you goin' home DiNozzo. I know how little sleep you've been getting." Gibbs didn't sound angry yet Tony still flinched when Gibbs picked his hand off of his shoulder to grab at his upper arm instead, guiding him to his feet.

"I haven't been coming in nights, I've been spending them with Veronica."

"The game's up DiNozzo, I'm taking you home." He guided the field agent into the elevator and pressed the button to take them to the garage. They made it most of the way there before something in Tony snapped alive and he reached off, hitting the switch to stop the elevator.

"I don't get it Gibbs! I work my ass off to prove that I'm the best on the team, aside from you, and I get chewed out. I save your ass and I get a head slap and a lecture about defying orders. I say nothing about how bad a match she is for you because hell I could be wrong and after everything you deserve some happiness. But you're still a the worst bastard I've met, because you give the rest of the team nods and good jobs and CafPow! for things that every Probie should know and do! So now why are you concerned all of a sudden?"

"I didn't realize the lengths you were going to to impress me. Didn't realize you needed my praise for doing your job a hell of a lot better than anyone else since you wouldn't let us forget." He paused a moment letting Tony's words sink in. "Why the hell is it you want to go so far to impress me? Angling for your own team?"

"No. That's not it at all. It's just... You need to trust that I've got your six no matter what. And..." Here he trailed off, picking at the nail on his middle finger with his thumb, staring at the railing in the elevator. Gibbs sighed.

"Spit it out DiNozzo." he instructed, and there was another moment of hesitation before Tony reached out like a flash and flipped the elevator switch with one hand while he pulled Gibbs to him with the other. He crushed their lips together in a nearly desperate kiss, trying to channel all of the emotions he felt into that one instant. Even though it was just lips, when the elevator doors dinged open Tony found his head spinning with only one thought of 'oh god what have I done?' floating around in his head.

Doing the first thing that he could think of he suddenly shoved his stunned boss back, whirling around and hitting whatever button he could, sliding out of the elevator as the doors closed. The last thing he heard as he took off at a full out run was Gibbs, shouting for him to get back there. But no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't will himself to go back. He just had to keep going until he got somewhere Gibbs would never think to look.


	8. Chapter 8 Hide and Seek

Anthony DiNozzo wasn't thinking about where he was running to, just that he had to keep running no matter what, even if the guards at the entrance to the Navy Yard were telling him that he was still needed up at NCIS. His objective was simple: get far enough away from Gibbs that he'd have a chance to cool down. He knew he was in for it when he was caught, but he hoped that it wouldn't cost him his place on the team. The fear fueled his run, producing adrenaline that carried him farther than he would have thought, even through the constricting in his chest and nausea turning his stomach. On his way through the park he stumbled, tumbling to the ground. Unbeknownst to him his cell phone went skittering out of his pocket when he fell, sliding into the grass and being left behind as Tony pushed himself up, taking off at a stumbling run again.

He ran until his head was spinning, but would have kept going, except for the fact that he ran into a very solid chest. Arms snaked around him as he stumbled back, and he looked up at the owner. Not the tallest on staff, but still topping out at six four, the more stoic of the bouncers, Kay, was staring down at him. Feeling completely safe, the energy rushed out of him like a popped balloon. He crumpled some, trusting the other man to not let him go.

"Tell Ami I need a room..." He breathed, feeling his world shift as he blacked out. The last thought he had was a hope that Kay was going to take him inside, and not leave him passed out on the street like some lush.

Gibbs stood in the elevator watching Tony leave, trying to wrap his head around the situation. It wasn't until the doors were almost closed that he had the sense to try and stop the other man from running off.

"DiNozzo! Get back here!" He reached for the button to open the doors again, but was a second too late. Pressing the button for the first level he could get off on, he grabbed his phone and dialed McGee.

"Hey Boss, do we have-" Gibbs cut him off with a frustrated snap, leveling a glare at the wall.

"Call all of the gates, tell them to not let DiNozzo leave and to send his ass back here. Have Ziva help you. Then track his phone." Without waiting for the inevitable questions he slammed his phone shut, getting out when the elevator dinged open, heading for the stairs that would take him back to his car.

When he got in his car he called McGee again. "Status report." He ordered throwing his car into gear and making his way out of the parking structure.

"North Gate just reported back that he blew right through the checkpoint like someone was chasing him as they were getting the call. They hadn't thought to stop him because they knew he was one of us and thought it was important. When they tried to call him back he seemed to get more freaked out. Is he okay boss?"

Gibbs took a slow breath, trying to quash the guilty feeling rising in his stomach. "He's okay." Gibbs stated, not quite sure if he believed it, but sure as hell going to try to. "Where is he now?"

"Headed he's heading east, towards the park."

"Keep an eye on him." Gibbs flicked the phone onto speaker, having to take a longer route, but still wondering how Tony had gotten so far so fast while exhausted.

"He's stopped, almost smack dab in the middle of the park."

"Lead me in." Gibbs followed the directions until McGee couldn't get any more specific. "Good work Tim. You can stop tracking us now and get back on the cold cases." Gibbs hung up without waiting to be asked if he was okay, because truthfully he didn't know. He'd feel much better when he knew Tony was alright. Quickly he dialed Tony's number looking around to try and pinpoint him. Tony's ringtone sounded and Gibbs whirled around, following it next to some bushes.

"Damn. Where did you go DiNozzo?" He murmured to himself, crouching near where he found the phone to hopefully get a direction from any flattened grass. Seeing none he stood again and looked at the phone, trying to deduce where the agent could have gone. He knew that Tony was panicked and drained, so he'd want to go somewhere he felt safe, where no questions would be asked.

Since his apartment was out of the question - under normal circumstances it'd be the first place he looked - Gibbs decided to try that one club Tony was a VIP at. He turned and jogged back to his car, driving as if someone's life depended on it. He doubted any serious harm would have come to Tony in the short time they had been separated, but Gibbs just wanted to make things right, whatever right was. Rule twelve was a rule for a reason. His relationship with Jenny while she was still an agent had blown up in his face. He wanted to believe anything with Tony would be different. Hell, it already was, but once bitten and twice shy as they say.

It was fairly early in club standards, but the two bouncers were set up in the doorway and the thrumming of the bass rhythm from the speakers indicated it was indeed open as a club. He stormed up to the pair and looked at the smaller one, he thought he recalled her name being Monique, staring her down.

"Is my agent in there?" He asked, watching her face carefully.

She shrugged, staring back at him, impassive. "Why should I know where your agent is? Isn't that your job?" Gibbs scowled.

"Let me talk to your boss."

"She's busy."

"Interrupt her."

"No."

Gibbs was fed up now. He snatched the walkie talkie off her belt and activated it, even as he was knocked to the ground by the little spitfire he had been arguing with. "This is Agent Gibbs, I need to speak to Ami Hawthorne." There was a few moments of silence as the girl, deceptively strong for her size, snatched the radio back, reaffixing it to her belt before standing up.

When the device crackled to life a minute later the voice on the other end was tense. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Do come in."

Nodding to both bouncers he passed them, Gibbs entered the building, making a mental note to have Abby add speed and strength to the list. The girl had knocked him flat even though she was no more than five foot six and a hundred fifteen pounds. He had no doubt she could do much worse, under different circumstances. Also, how had Tony gotten this far in such a short time? Enhanced speed had to be the culprit as taxis at this time of day were few and far between.

There was definitely something hinky about all of this, as the forensic scientist would say. As early as it was, the sound coming from the club hit him like a wall when he entered. It wasn't loud yet, it was just a persistent bass that couldn't be healthy in large doses. Ami was standing near the bar, staring at him in a way Shannon would when he messed up big time. He couldn't help but swallow apprehensively before striding forward to meet her.

"Miss Hawthorne." He stated diplomatically, nodding to her once they were close enough to be heard. She said nothing, only motioned for him to follow her, before walking away. Ami led him towards the back store room where the stairs to the upper level were.

Once they were both inside she spun around, hair fanning out behind her before gracefully settling again, a low snarl on her lips. "What in the hell did you do Agent Gibbs? That poor boy was a wreck when he came to us, so you better have a good explanation."

"I don't owe you any explanation other than there was a misunderstanding. If DiNozzo wants you to know more, he'll tell you. Now do I have to tear this place apart looking for him or are you gonna take me to him?" He watched her hesitate, wondering if his bluff was really a bluff, before nodding.

"Fine. I'll take you to him, but if you hurt him, so help you God, I will slap you so hard your great great great grandparents will feel it." Gibbs bit back a smile. It wasn't that he doubted her, he knew that she was serious, and that she cared a great deal for Tony. In a different life, she probably would have been good friends with Shannon. But in a different life he wouldn't be chasing his senior agent because the man was the only one who could make him feel an ounce of peace. Gibbs was determined to figure out what it was about the man that was so alluring, and he knew he would, even if it was the last thing he did.

Ami opened up the door to her room, and Gibbs could see someone curled up and asleep in the bed. "He was in bad shape, don't disturb him." Gibbs nodded as he moved around her to crouch by the bed. Trusting him to follow her directions, and knowing from Tony's description, that being there wouldn't change his mind if he wanted to disobey them, she turned and closed the door, leaving them so she could get back to work.

After the door shut, Gibbs reached out and ran his fingers through the sleeping agent's hair, before tracing down his jaw with a thumb. How had he not realized all of this was going on? If he looked so gaunt in his sleep how was it possible that he had overlooked it while Tony was awake? "God DiNozzo, I'm sorry." He breathed, knowing he was breaking yet another one of his rules, but somehow finding he didn't care. Gibbs expected Tony to sit up and tell him it was alright and that the worrying him had just been a ploy to make him realize that his actions had consequences.

But Tony didn't move.

Gibbs sat there, watching him for a few more minutes, deciding that the young man would get a much more restful sleep at home, where the thrum of the music from downstairs didn't resonate through the floor. Gently he detangled Tony from the blankets that were over him - apparently he was a snuggler - before picking up the man's shoes, setting them on the bed, arranging the laces in a way that he could easily hook them over his fingers. In one easy movement, Gibbs picked Tony up, pulling him close. Now Tony moved, but it was only to snuggle into his chest. That was something, it meant instinctually Tony still trusted him. Thank God for small miracles. Grabbing the shoes, Gibbs left the small room, closing the door with his foot.

Taking the back way out, Gibbs secured Tony in the passenger seat, before driving back to his house. He brought Tony into the master bedroom and laid him beneath the blanket, giving him the spare pillow to clutch. Straightening back up, he rolled his sore shoulder, before heading downstairs for a glass of bourbon and to sand his boat. He needed to think, and that was the best way to do it.

Almost fourteen hours from the point that he passed out in Kay's arms, Tony awoke slowly, as if sleep had become a pit of molasses and he was naught but a poor fly that wanted a taste.

The first thing that he was aware of was that the pillow he was clutching didn't smell like strawberries and lavender, with just a hint of vanilla. Instead it was fresh sawdust with an underlying forest smell, carrying subtle coffee and soap tones throughout. It was so familiar, but with how cloudy Tony's mind still was he couldn't place it. Determining that since he felt so safe, figuring out where he was wasn't a big deal. He snuggled into the warm mass that his arms were wrapped around, heaving a half sigh, half yawn. He was just drifting off again when the stray thought of how nice sleeping with Gibbs was crossed his mind, jolting him completely awake. Blinking against the strong sunlight coming through the eastern window, Tony peered around the room, taking in the details. First, Gibbs was not in the room, and a sigh of relief escaped the agent's lips. As tempting as the idea of waking up next to Gibbs was, after everything that had happened in the last month, it would have been too much to bear. Still, he felt the spot next to him, relieved that it was cool to the touch. He couldn't hear the shower in the adjoining master bathroom running either, so he closed his eyes again, straining to hear as much as he could from the rest of the house.

Hearing nothing immediate Tony crept to the bedroom door and opened it just a crack, long enough to press his nose through and inhale. No fresh coffee. Gibbs was either gone or asleep. He wasn't sure which one he preferred.

Opening the door just wide enough to creep through, Tony paused at the top of the stairs, looking down into the living room. There was Gibbs, asleep on the couch, with a pillow and blanket. Tony had to walk right by him to get out the front door.

Damn.

Taking a fortifying breath, he crept down the stairs, past the couch, and to the door. He grabbed his shoes off the mat, and opened the door so slowly he thought it wasn't going to open at all.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs' sharp voice cut through the previously silent air, causing Tony to jump, dropping his shoes. He whirled around to face Gibbs, seeing him laying there, completely awake.

"Oh hey boss... I was just..." Here he paused, searching for the right adjective or verb, or perhaps even both. Gibbs sat up, continuing to watch him.

"Leaving?" The man supplied, stretching and rubbing his shoulder. A pang of sympathetic guilt ran through Tony, having heard about the old injury, and knowing it must have been murder sleeping on a couch. He came up with two highly plausible reasons as to why Gibbs would rather sleep on the couch instead of in a bed. The first was the guest bedroom had been Kelly's and it still hurt to go into, much less sleep in. The second was because he knew Tony would try something like this.

"That's...one way of putting it." He murmured, waiting for the expected 'well go on then'. Or a nod, or something to make the guilt ease. Instead he watched as Gibbs stood, wearing nothing but sweatpants, and started folding the blanket, leaving Tony frozen as he watched the muscles in the older man's back move. After folding the blanket, Gibbs came and shut the door, guiding Tony to the couch by the shoulder. Without saying a word, he pushed the younger man down onto the couch, forcing him to sit, before walking to the kitchen to make some coffee. Tony stayed sitting, clutching his shoes on his lap, as he waited for Gibbs to come back. Obviously there was a big decision to be made, which would end with Gibbs quoting rule twelve and Tony being given a death sentence as Agent Afloat.

But at the moment, all Tony could do was wait.


	9. Chapter 9 Rules and Regulations

Tony waited, and soon the aroma of fresh coffee percolating filled the house, or at least, to his heightened senses it did. He had forgotten how bright the living room could get from the bay window behind where Gibbs had vetoed putting the television when he was staying there, and was thankful he wasn't particularly photosensitive like some vampires were. Sunlight had never made them burst into flames like old myths proclaimed, nor did they sparkle like modern stories said. Except for Nis, but that was because the man used more glitter than a stripper in order to attract the trashiest dates imaginable, before thinking it was necessary to give him dating advice. It was laughable really.

Pulling away from that tangent, Tony was thankful that he wasn't as photosensitive as Ami. The poor girl couldn't go out in strong sunlight for more than a few minutes without burning. In her human life she had been the youngest girl on an Irish farm and had been perpetually sunburned at sixteen, and sick of being seen as nothing but breeding stock and free labor. So she had run off and met a man that indulged her curiosity. The story didn't end well, but as sad as she was sometimes, her help had been invaluable to Tony over the years.

He heard Gibbs pouring the first cup of coffee and knew from experience that he'd stand there and drink it before pouring himself another and coming out to join him. He knew Gibbs knew that he preferred not to drink the pitch black brew, and so he wasn't surprised when Gibbs came back without a mug for him. What did surprise him was the dark bruise on his side. How that had gone without his notice when he had been watching Gibbs? _'Because you weren't looking at his side. You were looking at his ass, or how he moved.'_ His mind supplied traitorously, causing him to nearly flush, wondering if Gibbs had caught him staring.

Gibbs sat in one of the armchairs that flanked the couch, watching Tony look around nervously. The young man swallowed, before looking up at Gibbs with a worried expression.

"I know, rule twelve is a rule for a reason and I busted that wide open, but please, _please_ don't kick me off the team and put me as an agent afloat!" Tony blurted just as Gibbs opened his mouth to speak. Gibbs raised his coffee mug to his lips, taking a drink to cover the smirk. It was really amusing to think of his agent on a boat somewhere, but it was still accompanied by a small pang of hurt. How could Tony think that he'd be removed just for wanting to be with him?

_'Because,'_ his mind offered unhelpfully, _'when you brought Kate on, you told her that if she slept with a co-worker you'd have her fired.'_ The intent of that had been to keep her away from Tony and he was almost sure it worked. Whatever Tony and Kate had shared they certainly hadn't gone public, so Gibbs could only hope that it was just speculation.

Tony was now rambling about some movie where office romances went awry, trying to assure him that nothing of the sort would happen. Gibbs shook his head slightly, wondering where the man got all of this nervous energy after wearing himself out so badly the past few weeks.

"DiNozzo." Although quiet, the tone was still authoritative enough for Tony to shut his mouth with an audible click in the middle of his sentence. "First, I am _not_ pushing you off the team. Secondly, putting agents into other positions is not my job, it's the Director's. Although a superior could make recommendations, I won't be."

He could see the questions forming in Tony's mind and Gibbs cut him off with a shake of the head when he opened his mouth to voice them. Again, the agent's mouth shut. They lapsed into silence as Gibbs formulated how he was going to explain this. "However, you shouldn't have run Tony. I wasn't mad." He watched as a full range of emotions came over his senior agent's face. First shock, presumably at the use of his first name. Then confusion as he processed what not being mad meant, before finally a wary sort of confusion.

Tony stood again, letting the shoes drop to the floor, and walked closer, hesitating when Gibbs narrowed his eyes slightly. Never breaking eye contact, Tony leaned down and pressed their lips together again, but softer this time. There was no urgency, no fear, panic, or sleep deprivation to cloud his judgement. Just the soft press of lips moving against lips, and the elation that filled him when one of those deliciously warm, calloused hands cupped his cheek and he felt Gibbs respond. They didn't take it past just the sweetest and simplest of kisses, but when Tony pulled back to sit on the edge of the couch again, he was completely and utterly breathless. The kiss itself had seemed like a time paradox to Tony, feeling like it had stretched over an eternity and a second all at once.

Gibbs stayed quiet for a few seconds, collecting himself, before looking Tony in the eyes again. Both men noticed that the pupils of the other were dilated, and that assuaged a lot of Tony's fear for the moment. "If we continue this, there will be some rules."

"I can honestly say I didn't expect anything involving you to come without rules Gibbs." Tony said with a slight chuckle. "Lay em on me."

"Rule one: This does not follow us into work. If our enemies find out they will not hesitate to use you against me or vice versa." He paused here, to let Tony issue any complaints, before continuing when it was clear he understood. "Rule Two: I do not share. There will be nobody else."

"That goes for you too Gibbs, no more redheads, or Maddie Tyler."

"What does she have to do with anything?"

"Ducky said you were...oh..." Tony fell silent when he realized what the Medical Examiner's words on the pier had truly meant.

"Out with it DiNozzo." Gibbs instructed, frowning when Tony shook his head.

"It's nothing, I just had misinterpreted something. No sharing, go on."

Giving him a wary look, Gibbs nodded some. "Three: We do this right. Four: we take it slow." he paused here again, knowing that if Tony were to protest now would be the time. The agent looked like he was going to open his mouth, but surprisingly enough he kept quiet. Gibbs wondered if he had something bigger he wanted to use his veto on. "Five: No big secrets." And there it was, that scared rabbit look DiNozzo got when he was hiding something important. He struggled with himself for a moment, debating whether or not to tell, or how much to tell.

"Boss I'll admit I have a huge secret, the biggest, and I've never told anyone. I want to tell you, trust me I do, but I can't right now. It's nothing dangerous to me or anyone else. I mean it's not a Bruce Banner or Peter Parker size secret, but it's up there. I just don't want to lose you and this is so weird it might happen, I just, I want to be sure that we're going to stay an us before I tell you, of course if something big comes up that you need to know for, I'll tell, but... Please Gibbs, just give it time?"

Gibbs nodded slightly, impressed that Tony had actually told him he was hiding something big. Setting a hand on the agent's head, he ran his fingers through the man's hair to calm him down. Observation had taught him that Tony was a very tactile person, and at the moment he just wanted to stop his boyfriend (maybe? Or we're they still something else?) from bolting due to nerves. He watched Tony relax slowly, eyes eventually closing as just the slightest tilt of his head applied pressure to Gibbs' hand, encouraging him to stay where he was.

Tony wanted to stay there forever, but knew he couldn't. Sure enough, Gibbs' work phone rang, but he was able to answer without removing the hand threaded through his hair. But Tony could tell by the tone of voice, that not only did they have a case, but the gentleness that Gibbs had been showing (yeah he was normally a bastard, but it was no surprise the man had been married several times if a person could look past it) was going to be gone. Sure enough, as soon as Gibbs called McGee and Ziva, the hand was gone and his hardass boss was back, dashing up the stairs to get ready for the day. Tony yawned and stretched, before pulling on his shoes, thankful that there was one crisis that got averted, even if he was starting to suspect Gibbs was suspicious.

There was no way he couldn't be. After all he was nearly certain Gibbs had figured out that wasn't lipstick by now. But Gibbs was content to not bring it up more than the pointed look when he had made Rule Five. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Gibbs come back down, waiting for him by the door. At least until a sharp whistle broke him out of his thoughts. He stood and grinned at Gibbs, finding himself unable to wipe the dorky look off of his face until they were in the car.

In fact it was only noticing that Gibbs had shifted a little to the left so the clip of the seat belt wasn't pressing his side that made Tony remember about the bruise. "Who was it boss?" He asked after a minute, eyes growing serious as he looked up to watch the older man's face.

"A Staff Sargent on leave."

"Not our dead guy. The one that left that nasty bruise on your side." Gibbs looked at him as they stopped at a light.

"The bouncer. James." Tony winced at that. As much as it sucked being in a fight with Kay, he was unrefined, a brawler, he telegraphed his moves when you knew what to look for. Monique had spent years taking fighting classes for fun. And she practiced on her boyfriend every chance she got. Tony wanted to say that two out of every three arrests on her record were for domestic violence, but the guy, face a mess, came in and made them drop the charges. He had been working a case with Matt in Boston, on loan from Baltimore, when one such occurrence had happened. Judging by her record, it was a pretty Tony had seen them together a few times, and admitted that their relationship looked like some low scale S&M lifestyle, not that he knew much about those to start with. She kept Derik on a short leash, and he had been publicly bitten on the jaw or shoved into some corner whenever anyone looked too closely at him. Tony had noticed that even though he had whined about it some, he still grinned at her and had nestled closer.

Whatever made them happy.

That didn't make Tony any less furious at the fact they she had left a mark on something that he had always, subconsciously, thought of as his. Just like Kate, Abby, Ziva and McGee were his. "I'll talk with her." He grumbled, knowing that the talking would probably devolve into fighting, because of the volatility of her hair trigger temper and his smart assery.

He noticed Gibbs shaking his head, but ignored it. If it was anyone else, Gibbs would have shot them in an instant, and Tony didn't see what put his boss' well being below the rest of the team's. Probably that same drive that was present in Tony. The one that got him shot at too many times, the one that got him infected with the plague, the one that got him nearly blown to pieces and stabbed.

His musings were cut off as they pulled into the parking garage and parked next to Tony's car. He got out and popped his trunk, quickly unbuttoning the rumpled shirt from the night before, and pulling out his 'emergency' shirt and a small backpack filled with toiletries before pulling on the shirt and shutting the trunk, buttoning it as he walked, Gibbs walking two paces behind him, almost as if he didn't trust Tony to follow after his recent shenanigans.

Tony pulled out a toothbrush after buttoning his shirt and put some toothpaste from a little travel tube before stuffing it into his mouth, scrubbing his teeth with one hand while he put the toothpaste back into his bag with the other, Gibbs reaching around him to push the elevator button, first the one on the outside, to call the elevator, then the one on the inside to take them to the bullpen. As Tony came up to his desk he spat into his trash before rinsing his mouth with a sip of water before spitting that into his trash as well.

"Ah nothing better than being minty fresh!" he exclaimed, wiping his mouth on a stray napkin from takeout a few days before, before grinning at the Mossad liaison. "Isn't that right Zi-vah" He segmented the name teasingly before grinning at her.

" You look like you just gave a... What is that word..." she paused here, looking over at McGee for assistance. "Suck...job?" McGee snickered some, at Tony, not the misuse of the word.

"Blow job Ziva." McGee corrected as he looked at his computer.

"In my experience, you suck, you do not blow." She murmured, shrugging, but filing away the terminology, while Tony tried to fix his hair in his monitor's reflexion after wiping off the remaining toothpaste.

"That's not important, what is important is how McVirgin knows about blowjobs."

"Everyone knows DiNozzo. They're all over the Internet. Gear up." Gibbs had walked right by him, but Tony was frozen to the spot momentarily. Had Gibbs just admitted to watching blow jobs in porn or had it just been banter? It had to have been banter. Yet, Tony's mouth still ran dry, pulse rushing, as he could almost feel Gibbs' dick in his mouth. Suddenly he had never wanted anything more at any particular moment than to see his boss in the throes of ecstasy, hand tangled in his hair...

_'No!'_ he chided himself realizing that it would be impossible to hide a full on erection in the pants he was wearing, much less in the elevator with all of his coworkers. Already more than halfway there, he forced himself to recall all manner of grizzly crime scenes as he walked to the elevator. Slowly but surely, Tony's boner wilted, and he heaved a sigh of relief, continuing the montage long after the doors closed.

When the case ended, the director was standing on the stairwell, waiting for them. "Agent DiNozzo, I need to see you in my office." She stated. "It's urgent." Not waiting for the dismissal from Gibbs, he jogged up to where the director was standing, before following her into her office.

A/N: Hey guys, sorry this chapter took as long as it did, my wrists have really been hurting lately, so I've had to take a lot of breaks. And I had phrasing issues as well. There were things that I wanted to say, but I didn't know which words to use so it took a lot longer. Yes English is my first language, but I'm a firm believer in that there's really only one word for each instance that fits a place perfectly. There are other words that come close, but there's only one perfect one. But I digress. Here's another short cliffy for you guys. Anyone have any ideas as to what the director's going to say? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but if you do it won't change my plan.

Thanks for all of your feedback, reviews make me smile, and I'm so thankful that you all take the time to read this fic.


	10. Chapter 10 The Director's Office

**Note: I swear to you all that I didn't forget about this story, and I know it's been a month at least! I've just been pretty sick lately and real life got in the way! I have every intention of finishing Playing Human, especially since the responses I've gotten are so awesome. Really guys, thank you so much for your concern and continued reading!**

Anxiety pooled in Tony's stomach as the distance to the Director's office shortened. He could feel Gibbs' eyes on him still, like they had been for most of the day. Even though they had rounded the corner those eyes were trained on the back of his head like a remote control helicopter.

This case, as sad as it was to see another dead member of the military, had seen Tony running around on cloud nine, anticipating and doing his absolute best because he wasn't busy second guessing himself to curry favor. Instead he had been working off of his own natural instinct and had found a clue that had lead to the arrest of the criminal.

He had been planning on catching the elevator with Gibbs and inviting him over for a movie and takeout that weekend, their first 'official' date, but there was a good chance that Gibbs would be gone by the time the director let him go.

"Let me be the first to say, Agent DiNozzo," The director started, shutting the door to her office and sitting behind her desk, starting to shuffle folders around before selecting the one that she wanted, setting it in front of her, then folding her hands on top of it. "That all of your extra work these last few weeks has not gone unnoticed."

Tony smiled some, not because of the praise, but because for once there was something Jenny Shepard didn't know. It wasn't that he liked keeping his boss' boss in the dark, it was just that there were so few chances to savor the realization that you knew something a head of a government agency did not.

"As result of your dedication I have a very special assignment to offer you." she lifted her hands from the folder and opened it, turning it towards him. It was a dossier, on a very attractive brunette. Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Director?" he asked, still looking at the girl and skimming the file.

"She is the daughter of an arms dealer that needs to be caught. Your mission is to get into her confidence, and thusly her father's, by any means necessary. We have a cover prepared for you for when you inevitably make contact and become her boyfriend."

Tony's head shot up from the dossier when the Director mentioned being this, admittedly very lovely, girl's suitor. "I'll have to respectfully turn down the mission if I'm expected to be this girl's boyfriend Director." he stated, gently sliding the folder back towards her. "I guess you'll have to give it to McGee or another team."

"This isn't like you Special Agent DiNozzo." The Director observed, steepling her fingers, and Tony suddenly remembered that before she was Director of NCIS, she was Special Agent Jenny Shepard, partner to the great Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Damn, this was going to be tough to explain. "I'd like you to explain yourself in regards to turning this assignment down."

"I'm in a relationship with someone really special, and I'm not jeopardizing that." He would of course have to fudge the details a bit, but he could do that, hell it was easy enough to do.

"Since when?"

"Officially? Last night. But I've been pining after her for years. LeAnne is just the best. And the best looking. Her chest, ass and everything else. God I could just look at her all day, which is good cuz I'm not allowed to touch yet. Gotta be a good boy." Tony smirked wolfishly, picturing all of the times he's seen those hard muscles move beneath clothing or that day on the roof with Kate. It still stung to think about Kate, and that he had failed her, but feeling all of that power behind Jethro was a very small silver lining. He shifted to hide the sudden, but not unexpected, erection, and hoped that Jenny Shepard didn't notice it. If she did she didn't comment on it.

"Are you certain this girl is worth passing up a promotion? If you take it you wouldn't just be Anthony DiNozzo, special agent, you would be Anthony DiNozzo _Secret Agent_." he knew she was trying to be tempting, and if he were in a relationship with any other person it would be tempting enough and he'd take it. Maybe even trying to play both relationships. Or at least appear like he was.

"A promotion?" he echoed, sounding quite a bit tempted, and if he wanted to be perfectly honest the offer was tempting. But Jethro was more so. Tony shook his head "I'm sorry director but LeAnne is worth far more than any promotion." He saw the look on the director's face and sighed, he wasn't getting away that easily. "Tell you what director. I'll take the position if you can get Gibbs to agree to it. He's my direct boss and he knows how to keep a secret. You really should ask him since I'm a part of his team."

Jenny's brows furrowed momentarily, before returning to their places on her mask of calm. Tony could almost see the thoughts whirring in her head. He could just see 'What makes this girl so special?', 'Why Gibbs?' and 'Who does he think he is?' floating on the tip of her tongue, but staying firmly in place behind lightly colored lips.

"You have a point Agent DiNozzo. I'll have a talk with Agent Gibbs." she stood and opened her door as a dismissal, promising they'd be in touch, and Tony was surprised to turn and see none other than Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who had pretty obviously been in the middle of harassing Cynthia about why his boss would take his underling and what she wanted with him. Thankfully by the time he was forced to stand the pesky erection had been deflated from having to keep his mind on things other than how his boss looked and felt.

Tony slid out of the Director's Office, giving Cynthia and Gibbs a sheepish smile. Jenny Shepard spoke first, before Gibbs had any chance to question him, and before Tony had any inkling of making up some reason to be in her office that wouldn't worry him.

"Agent Gibbs. Perfect timing, I was just going to have Cynthia call you up here." Her voice was slightly icy, as if she was sick of having him put his nose in places it didn't belong, even though he was usually finding information he needed to close a case when he snooped.

"DiNozzo. Go work on your report." Gibbs ordered, brushing past him without a second glance.

Tony looked over at Cynthia when the door closed. Like a true professional she didn't seem unseated at having Gibbs probably on the verge of yelling at her when asking didn't work. Giving her a somewhat apologetic look he motioned towards the door leading back into the rest of NCIS. "I should probably get to work... Gibbs could actually..." he let his sentence trail off debating to himself how mad his boss would be. Getting a nod from the secretary, it was all he could do not to bolt.

Tony returned to his desk looking anxious, and getting strange stares from the other two members of their team. He fired up his computer and started typing away, before finally glaring at them both when they didn't stop staring. "_What_?" He snapped, on edge as he looked up at them both. "Got a problem Ziva? Probie?" Both shook their heads and went back to their reports, seemingly startled out of their daze. Tony made a face at his computer screen, glaring at it as if it were the cause of his current predicament as he typed.

No, any fury directed at him from Gibbs would all be his fault.

An hour passed, and Ziva left, dropping her report on Gibbs' desk. A half an hour later and McGee followed. Gibbs still wasn't down yet, but he was sure that there was an intense discussion going on between them. He knew they had a history. He knew that their director had a thing for Gibbs yet as well. He could smell it all over her. But he hadn't ever attributed any lust from Gibbs back to her, so maybe they weren't up to anything. Tony would just be crushed if in a fit of anger and disappointment at this new 'girlfriend' Gibbs fell for the advances of a redhead.

At the two hour mark, Tony finished his report, and went to put it on Gibbs' desk, proof reading as he went, only to return to his desk to correct something. After two and a half hours had passed from Tony's release, he was finally satisfied with his report, and set it on the desk. Only then did he hear a door upstairs opening. By the time Gibbs got to the bullpen, Tony was turning off his computer and packing up his things to go.

"Report done DiNozzo?" Gibbs' voice was tense, probably angry... No most definitely angry.

"Yes boss."

"Good. Go home." Tony did as he was told, grabbing his backpack and heading towards the elevator slowly, watching Gibbs with confusion. The man was sitting there reading reports and he still didn't know if things were okay. But he knew better than to ask at work. Maybe he would text Gibbs later? Did Gibbs even know how to text?

The doors opened and he got on the elevator alone, taking the short ride to where the garage was, before getting into his car and going home. The night was uneventful and eventually Tony started drifting off to sleep.

Just as he was about to fall deeply into slumber, imagining scents of bourbon and sawdust accompanying his clean cotton sheets, a loud pounding came from his front door. Whoever it was was knocking loud enough to wake the dead. At _midnight_. Not any respectable hour, because of course that would be too easy. Tony groaned into his pillow before grabbing his gun off the side table and slipping silently to the front door as the knocking stopped.

Tony peered through the peephole before sighing and clicking the safety back onto his gun. He unlocked the door and opened it, allowing the person inside.

"Gibbs?" He asked with a yawn "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk DiNozzo."


	11. Chapter 11 Night Talks

**Note: I'm glad you guys still love this story even after my hiatus. You wouldn't believe how astounded I am to have hit over 100 reviews! Have a bit of (plot relevant) fluff as a thank you!**

"We need to talk?" Tony echoed blinking sleepily at Gibbs as he looked around the room. Tony watched the man take his look and notice that there were very few personal effects, no sloppily hidden playboys or porn DVDs. Just a big tv and stacks of old movies. He could tell that Gibbs was confused, but he didn't want to deal with it just now. Tony just closed and locked the door behind Gibbs, setting the gun on the table in the hallway before coming back out into the living room to join his irate boyfriend.

"Who in the hell is that woman DiNozzo? I thought we made a deal." Gibbs whirled on him as Tony's brows furrowed in confusion at the question, sleepy mind trying to make sense of it.

"There's no girl Gibbs." Tony explained going to the couch and sitting down, motioning for the older man to sit with him. The offer was declined, but Gibbs did move to pace between the couch and TV.

"No girl? What about LeAnne? The director said you were 'really smitten' with her." There was a pause, and Tony couldn't help but laugh. Not only at Gibbs' use of Jenny Shepard's words but at the thought that the best agent in all of NCIS couldn't figure out something so simple as a name change.

"Ah LeAnne. I had to be careful with her. After all she's really great. You know when we got together she laid out all of these rules? I mean agreeing to it was easy, after all, I've had the hugest crush on her since ever." Gibbs had stopped his pacing, glaring at Tony with a fervor the younger man had never seen. It just made his grin wider. "You know she came into Baltimore on an undercover op and didn't think to tell those of us in charge. I wound up arresting her. She worked, and still does, for a navy yard in DC. Got the best job offer of my life after that. I've been working happily under her since." Tony stood up now, watching Gibbs' expression move from fury to confusion and then disbelief.

"You..."

"Yeah" He reached up and stroked Gibbs' cheek, now roughened with stubble. "LeAnne, with her amazing chest" Tony's hand slid down from Gibbs' cheek to rest briefly on a pectoral, "and stunning ass" the wandering hand continued its journey, only to be caught as it slid around the older male's hip, "was just a feminized version of you. Of course there were things I couldn't tell the director. Like how I love that you always smell of sawdust, even when you haven't had time to work on your boat, or how whenever you're off duty you get just the faintest hint of bourbon mixed in and it's more alluring than any cologne." His voice had dropped during the speech, as he leaned in, slowly brushing his lips against Gibbs'.

At first the older male didn't respond, too busy processing the information. But the second sweep of lips on lips made Gibbs' hand twitch against Tony's wrist. The third brought his other hand up tangling in brown hair, and a more encouraging response. Tony was not surprised by the fact that Gibbs took the lead in the kiss. After all Gibbs led everything. What surprised him the most was how willing he was to just give himself over to those slightly chapped but still supple lips, and soon that probing captivating tongue. It gave him just the barest taste of Gibbs as it explored his mouth tangling with his own tongue, enough to make Tony's head spin and crave more.

It was seconds and eternities before they broke apart and Tony pressed his face into the crook of Gibbs' neck, feeling his pulse flutter there. He longed to bite, not hard, just enough for a taste. But that would probably scare him off, so Tony settled for a soft kiss instead. "Stay?" he asked, somewhat impulsively, feeling and hearing Gibbs' heartbeat increase.

"That's not a good idea DiNozzo." he stated, voice a bit gruffer, huskier, clouded with lust.

"Just to sleep. Please? It's nice having someone here." It was pretty obvious that they both wanted more, but he knew Gibbs meant what he said when he insisted they take it slow.

"Are you taking that promotion?"

"No. I have no interest in that girl when I have you." He pulled back so Gibbs could see the sincerity in his eyes. "I know it sounds cheesy, but I'd give up a million promotions and a million pretty girls for you."

Gibbs still seemed dubious. "You're right. That is cheesy." Tony couldn't help the smile that came at seeing how they were nearly teasing each other, at least in the brunette's mind. He would get legitimate humor out of Gibbs one day.

"I warned you. So are you gonna stay?"

A sigh came from Gibbs, as he looked into those hopeful eyes. "Damn it DiNozzo you're like a dog with a bone."

"Is that a yes? Because it's getting late and I'd hate to see you get into a wreck when you could be safe in my bed." His eyes sparkled with mischief before closing when Tony yawned, stifling it into his hand.

"...Just this once DiNozzo, because we're doing this right."

"I know. The bedroom's this way." Tony nodded, almost shyly as he turned, using the wrist that Gibbs gripped as a lead. The bedroom was just as sparse, a large bed with two nightstands took up one wall, a dresser with several drawers took up most of the next, the third had what looked to be a spacious closet, and the fourth was bare, with the exception of a few windows. By the time Gibbs finished his inspection, Tony had already seated himself on the side of the bed that he had vacated to open the door and was in the process of putting his gun in the nightstand drawer. When he was done he looked up at the other man and motioned to the other side of the bed in invitation.

"Do you want a pair of pants? I have something that might fit..." Gibbs shook his head at the offer, pulling off his shirt and folding it, before setting it on the dresser, kicking off his shoes and setting them next to the dresser, and putting his socks in them before finally, slowly sliding out of his jeans. He folded them as well and set them on top of the shirt, before turning around to move to the vacant side of the bed. Tony was leaning back on his elbows and watching him with half lidded eyes. The closer he got the easier it was to tell that his pupils were dilated, even though the blanket covered the most obvious sign of his arousal.

"Sleep DiNozzo." Gibbs instructed as he climbed into the bed, pulling the covers up around his own waist. While he normally slept in his boxer shorts, this was still a new experience, being in a bed with a man who so obviously wanted him, a man that he couldn't deny he wanted in return. The light clicked off and Gibbs watched the silhouette of his senior field agent settle onto his side, before doing the same. Everything in here smelled like Tony. Expensive soaps that held a fruity smell just as much as some earthen wood. To a degree it reminded him of Shannon, but that didn't bother him as much as little similarities usually did. This time he wasn't angry at his bedmate for not being enough of her to fill the void. But maybe that's because having DiNozzo on his six was already starting to mend it. Because Gibbs couldn't deny that as similar as they could be sometimes, Tony was always Tony.

"Gibbs?" Tony asked sleepily, voice quiet and heavy. "What took so long in the Director's office?" The query was greeted with a sigh because it was expected, yet unexpected at the same time. Normally he'd answer with a 'none of your business' except, it really was Tony's business since it directly involved him.

"Jen was being stubborn. She wanted you to do this op and I kept telling her you didn't want it or else you wouldn't have fought so hard for her to ask me. Tomorrow she's probably going to ask you again, but I'm not worried about it. Just gotta be firm." What Gibbs wasn't saying was that the whole op reeked of desperation and a hidden agenda. He didn't feel like there was much to say on that front though because Tony wasn't even debating getting into the middle of this mess.

"Oh... 'Kay" he could feel Tony relax again, lulled to sleep by the unspoken reassurance that his job would be safe, and by the weight on the other half of the bed reminding him that he wasn't alone. The soft breathing and warmth of the bed was enough to put a soporific effect on Gibbs as well and soon both males were fast asleep.

By the time Gibbs woke up with the first streams of sunlight, he and Tony were tangled together. One of his arms was snugly fitted around the man's waist to have fingers splayed on his chest. Both of Tony's arms were clutched around the one wrapped around him, and one of his legs had slid back to tangle with Gibbs' own. A quick glance at the alarm clock revealed that it was just a little past oh-five-hundred, and chances are Tony wouldn't be awake before at least oh-six, maybe oh-six-thirty. Plenty of time for him to slip out without notice, but the eumoirous feeling that had filled him made him loathe to move. No matter how much he wanted coffee or to hit the head.

Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen, and finally Tony changed his position, withdrawing his leg and releasing the grip on Gibbs' arm. Slowly, gently, the man slid out of bed and out of the bedroom. He went to the bathroom first, before heading down to the kitchen to see about Tony's coffee situation. The machine was easy enough to locate and figure out, but the grounds seemed to be hiding from him.

They were located a short while later, having been hidden behind boxes of macaroni and cheese. He didn't bother reading the bag at first, instead opening it and inhaling the rich scent. Obviously an expensive blend, and strikingly familiar. He glanced at the bag and saw that it was the blend that he usually got from Starbucks, only bearing some fancy Italian label. It figured that Tony would have something imported. Everything he owned seemed to have some label or another attached to it.

It made Gibbs wonder why the attraction to him was present. Not that there was anything wring with him, it was just he was a simple man with simple hobbies, whereas Tony was everything luxurious. He was raised in a life of excess and did his damnedest to keep living that life.

Gibbs' estimation of Tony being aroused from sleep at zero-six-hundred was startlingly correct, considering how often the man was late to work. Gibbs even thought he heard a groan coming from the bedroom as the alarm clock was turned off. Slowly but surely, signs of life started coming from down the hall. A shuffle step here, a stumbling thump of Tony bumping into a wall while trying to walk around with his eyes closed there, and soon, leaning against the counter, cup of coffee in hand, Gibbs was able to see Tony make his way into the hall. He watched the brunette blink owlishly at the light from the sun streaming through the kitchen window, before grinning at the fact that this wasn't just an extremely detailed dream.

"You stayed."

"Won't be staying long DiNozzo. Gotta go home to shower and change."

"You could shower here, with me." Tony's attempts to be seductive, with a little wink even, was more cute than sexy and Gibbs found himself hiding a smile with his mug.

"'Fraid not DiNozzo. We're taking things slow remember?" he asked after schooling his features and finishing his mug of coffee. Tony shuffled forwards and gave him a light kiss before it could be dodged. "And I was planning on leaving once you woke up anyways."

"If you're going to abandon me so quickly at least agree to Friday. Come over after work and bring a movie. I'll bring home food."

Gibbs debated, filling a second mug with coffee and preparing it the way Tony liked to keep the younger man in suspense. Three sugars and some cream. He wasn't a federal agent for nothing after all. He turned back and pressed the mug into Tony's hands.

"Friday." He finally agreed, slipping around Tony to go to the bedroom and put on his clothes. When he came back out Tony was sipping at the mug, having taken over the place at the counter he had left. As he went towards the door he gave a little nod to his field agent, who responded with a smile. The door was unlocked, then opened before Gibbs turned around, face serious.

"And DiNozzo. Don't be late." He stated with a warning scowl, which only served to make the brunette laugh, first a chuckle, then a full out guffaw, having to set the coffee down to avoid spilling it. Before Tony could recover, Gibbs was out the door, the soft snick of the latch the only sound in his wake.


	12. Chapter 12 The Date

Much to everyone's surprise Tony was not late to work. In fact, quite the opposite, he was nearly five minutes early and looking sharper than normal. He wore a black Armani three piece suit, with a red silk tie. The other agents were staring, nearly slack jawed, but Gibbs knew the suit and the meticulousness for what it was. Tony had put on battle armor, prepping for a war of personnel, a war of smiles and appearances. Jenny Shepard didn't stand a chance. Gibbs couldn't help but be a little proud that his best agent was going to give his ex - ex Probie, ex lover, almost ex wife - hell because she was sticking her nose in everything that it didn't belong in. She had an agenda and he knew it as well as she did. Sucking his agents into it wasn't appreciated or right, even if this was now her agency.

Was he more protective because of this thing that he had with DiNozzo? Maybe. But he had a feeling he'd have reacted just as fiercely if it were McGee or Ziva that she was targeting. His team was like his family after all. No... Not like his family. It _was_ his family. The only family he could stand anyways.

"You gonna be able to work in that suit DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, watching the other man fidget with his cuffs and tie in the reflection of his computer monitor from across the bullpen. Instantly Tony straightened, then slid into a pose of relaxation so natural that only someone who knew the man well would be able to pick up on the nerves. A lazy, cocky grin appeared on the man's face as fingers eased through the darker brown hair to be certain every strand was in place.

"Of course boss. Gotta look good while on the job. You never know when a perfectly pressed suit will come in handy with a witness." The smile was disarming, but Gibbs could tell from his eyes, the way they flicked to his monitor, carefully positioned to not only see himself but to see up on the staircase where Jenny would eventually appear, that he felt hunted, nearly trapped. The protective side of Gibbs wanted to push himself between his agent and the perceived threat, to show his agent just who he belonged to.

"Then prove it and get to work." He growled, getting up and stalking off to get more coffee. Though the sludge they provided here could usually pass for coffee, it was not, by any stretch of the imagination, _good_ coffee. Nothing like what he had before he left DiNozzo's place this morning. _That_ had been some damn fine coffee. DiNozzo had good taste in beans but bad taste in preparation. Far too sweet for his taste.

When Gibbs returned, steaming cup in hand, the whole team was typing away or pouring over cold case files, dutifully 'uh huh'ing or posing an 'oh really?' as Tony regaled them with a blithe yet coy retelling of the events between him and 'LeAnne' last night. Gibbs wasn't quite sure if this was a move to play up his affections for the director and her minions or if it was truly just Tony being Tony and his need to brag in that, as Kate had called it, sophomoric way of his.

Knowing the truth, Gibbs almost found the idea of Tony being over the moon endearing. Almost. "DiNozzo!" He snapped, smacking the man upside the head as he passed, before heading towards his desk and sitting down, beginning to work on his own reports.

"Sorry boss!" DiNozzo replied almost instantly, rubbing the back of his head lightly. "Won't happen again."

"It better not." Gibbs growled, even though they both knew it would. Out of all of the quirks his agents could possess, this was easy to deal with. Being boisterous was better than being trigger happy or unsure of yourself. Though all three could lead to death in their own way. Still he had a damn good team, and he wouldn't trade them for anything.

Eventually, around lunch that day, Jenny had called Tony up into her office for another chat. Tony came back looking stolid an hour or so later, whereas Jenny wasn't seen for the rest of the day. Even through the lack of expression on his second in command's face, Gibbs knew he was relieved from the way he relaxed in his chair automatically and was able to get right into work without prompting.

It wasn't until Tony claimed he wasn't hungry when dinner came around that the team noticed their senior field agent hadn't eaten all day. "Maybe he is in love." Ziva quipped, as McGee looked nervous.

"Maybe. Or maybe the director did something to him." McGee speculated, quickly checking over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't snuck up on him. There was an exasperated sigh from Tony that drew everyone's attention.

"I'm just not hungry. There's no reason to make a big deal of it. In fact McGoo, you could stand to skip a few meals yourself, if you wanna have any hope of attracting the ladies."

"I'll have you know Tony, I have absolutely no problem getting a date."

"So when was the last time you had one?"

"I haven't had time lately. I've been busy."

The bickering between the two agents didn't last long, and with little interruptions the evening faded into night and everyone was sent home. As it drew closer and closer to Friday, Tony became nearly frantic with nervous energy in the office. Everyone was thankful that he was immune to this new case of the jitters when they were out in the field though. Professionalism was a skill that he had learned well, in his own way. Besides, Tony knew, perhaps better than it was believed, that Gibbs would nip this in the bud if he couldn't keep from being a total dipshit in the field. And God if every molecule, every _atom_ in his body, didn't call out for Gibbs. His touch, his kiss, his warmth nearby. If this got destroyed before it had a real chance Tony would be devastated.

When the big night finally came Tony brought Chinese. He knew Gibbs' favorites from the place because of what he ordered when they got Chinese at work. Or at least he hoped they were his favorites. He set the containers on a warming plate and checked his watch, pacing the length of the kitchen island before moving around it and sitting on the couch. One shoe clad foot tapped on the carpet, and his tongue darted out every so often to moisten his suddenly dry lips.

Minutes passed like hours, each tick of the second hand feeling like an eternity. He had been so focused with his watch that he missed hearing footsteps on the stairs, then coming down the hall. He was so engrossed in the minute, rhythmic ticking of his watch that when the firm knock sounded through the room he jumped to his feet and reached for the gun that he had long since put away.

It must be Gibbs.

He moved to stand in front of the door, heart racing and dry mouthed, wiping his suddenly sweaty palms on his slacks. He hadn't changed out of his work pants, though he did lose the suit coat and tie, as well as undoing the first two buttons on his shirt. His hand hesitated over the doorknob as he swallowed, trying to regain his devil-may-care composure.

A minute and a half passed before he was finally able to bring himself to open the door, fingers fumbling on the polished knob as he turned it. When the door opened Gibbs was on the other side, looking rather amused.

"I was wondering how long it was gonna take ya to open the door." He teased, stepping inside once Tony had moved. The brunette mock pouted.

"Hey it's not like I was just sitting around waiting for you. I was getting things ready." He lied, gesturing to the island separating the kitchen from the living room. Plates were resting next to the warmers that held the takeout containers, fighting against the tendency of that particular ethnicity's food to congeal into Popsicle like entities when cool. Both containers however were still steaming, so there was no worrying there.

Tony watched as Gibbs set the movie he brought on an end table near the couch, before speaking again. "Do you want to eat at the island before the movie or on the couch during? And do you want a beer? I've got some chilling in the fridge."

Gibbs nodded and took a seat at the island with a simple 'before' and 'yeah', thanking Tony when a bottle of his favorite beer was set in front of him.

"Do you want the chopsticks or a fork?"

"Chopsticks work." Tony nodded at that response, coming and sitting across from Gibbs, handing him one of the pre packaged sets of chopsticks. They divided up the Chinese onto two plates and began to eat.

Eating happened in relative silence, most of the conversation happening from Tony's end, as a valve to relieve some of the first date jitters. He knew Gibbs was a largely silent man, but to his credit he seemed to be putting up with Tony's chit chat rather well. Granted the man _had_ been married four times, but Tony wanted to think Gibbs listened because he liked him.

The movie was an awkward affair though. At least from Tony's perspective. The two men were seated six inches from each other on the couch, and it was spent in silence, in respect for Gibbs' choice to take things slowly. Normally there was some sort of cuddling going on, usually initiated by him. Tony had wanted to, but a fear of being rebuffed due to the rules Gibbs had in place for them kept him still. So he waited for Gibbs to initiate something. But Gibbs just drank his beer and watched the movie while Tony's eyes stayed glued to him through the reflection in the black edge around his flat screen. The wild gunshots and whooping yodels of a stereotypical westernesque Indian failed to draw his attention like it normally would have.

There was no awkward or shy grab for his hand as it laid between them. There was no yawn and stretch to get Gibbs' arm around his shoulders or even across the back of the couch.

It was just two guys, in the dark, watching a movie and drinking beer. By the time Tony worked up the nerve to slide a little closer the ending credits had started to play. Gibbs handed Tony the remote and clicked on the lamp, and Tony blinked a few times to pull the spots out of his vision at the sudden brightness behind Gibbs, throwing him into silhouette.

"That was a good choice in movie Gibbs," Tony remarked, pressing some buttons on the offered remote, before standing to grab the disk as it ejected from his DVD player. He had dug up his old VHS just in case that's what Gibbs had grabbed, but the man had surprised him by bringing a disk. He made sure to bend just a bit so Gibbs had the chance to eye up the toned muscles hiding under fabric pulled taut. As he put the DVD back in the case he rambled on about Blazing Saddles and how it's the most hilarious western of all time.

When he turned around he found Gibbs watching him, mostly empty beer bottle in his hand. As Tony sat back down on the couch Gibbs finished the beer before nodding at the chatter.

"Next time," he started, interjecting the two words when Tony paused to take a breath, "my place. No movie, no take out." Tony's shock at there being a next time -since in his mind that date went horribly- quickly melted into anticipation from the simple words. What would they be doing? Was Gibbs going to cook? We're they just going to fall into bed and devour each other instead? Giving himself a mental headslap Tony slid back into reality.

"Okay, when, and what do you want me to bring?" Tony questioned, knowing that he could get a lot from the answer.

"Nothin' but yourself DiNozzo. Wear comfortable clothes. Same time next week." Tony nodded and made a mental note as Gibbs got up to recycle the empty bottle.

"Sounds good. It's a date." Comfortable usually meant something you can move in or something you wouldn't mind getting dirty. Maybe even something you can remove in a hurry.

Resolving to think about it in depth later, Tony stood as Gibbs came back around the island. "So what happens now?" He questioned looking expectantly at his boss for the answer.

"Now I go home."

"Already? But it's still early. We could watch another movie. And then you could sleep over." He suggested, grinning charmingly.

Gibbs nearly smiled.

"We're taking this slow Tony." Gibbs reminded gently.

"Right... Slow. Can I at least get a good night kiss? For good behavior?"

"I think you've earned it."

They moved towards each other, Gibbs circling a leather recliner, and Tony coming around the couch, before a rough, calloused hand cupped the vampire's cheek. The gesture was sweet and slow, as were the lips that descended onto his. It took every ounce of willpower to only match the kiss, not push Gibbs down onto the nearest surface and do wicked things to him.

_'Slow...'_ He reminded himself, shivering as Gibbs pulled away. The sensation of those calloused fingers on his cheek drawing goosebumps down his arms and causing the hairs at the back of his neck to stand on end. Arousal coiled in his stomach but he did his best to push it away.

"You sure you don't wanna stay...?" He questioned, one last time.

"Good night DiNozzo." The statement was forceful, with just a twinge of the same lust Tony felt. But he could tell how much Gibbs wanted him too by the darkened eyes with the dilated pupils and the spicy spike in Gibbs' scent. He covered it well.

"Night boss." He returned, trying not to leer as the man left his apartment and walked down the hall.

He needed a shower.


	13. Chapter 13 Unfocused

"So tell me more about your boss." Adonis purred, leaning over the bar early on Sunday morning, a coy grin on his glossed lips. Night Delight was mostly empty, with only half a dozen or so people munching on snacks or sipping drinks, heedless of the fact that lunch hadn't even come yet. The blonde rested a chin on his hand. Tony ducked his head as his cheeks involuntarily colored, a soft smile appearing on his lips.

"Gibbs...is different. He's not anything I've ever gone for before in either a man or a woman. He's serious, and special and... And... For Christ's sake he builds a boat in his basement!" Tony exclaimed with a groan, dropping his head onto the bar-top with a thunk. The ice in his glass rattled from the movement, causing the Pepsi in his glass to fizz.

Well manicured fingers stroked through the agent's hair, causing him to relax even with his back to the door in an unsecured area. If this continued for long enough he'd doze off. Currently the fingers were expertly massaging his scalp, loosening his tongue.

"Gibbs is commanding and powerful. Got eyes that can pierce through anything. So captivating and I could stare into them all day." He murmured, "He's handsome and in shape too. All hard muscle and angled jawline." Tony shivered, his mind immediately bringing the phantom feelings of Gibbs holding him tight, pressing up against him and trying to lull him to sleep. "And those hands... Have I mentioned he builds boats in his basement? I'm not a fetishist, but God, I would worship those hands." Tony fell silent again, his breathing evening out some.

"Poor thing. You've got it bad."

"No kidding."

"Sleep with him yet?"

"No." Tony groaned here, moving his hands under his head miserably. "One of his rules is that we take it slow, do it right."

"And?"

"We went on one, really awkward, date, and then he kissed me goodnight and went home. Glaciers have moved faster."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Nothing I can do but sit here like Ginnifer Goodwin's character Gigi pining after Alex, played by Justin Long, in _He's Just Not That Into You_"

"Sweetie you're not that pathetic. You're just learning how hard it is to be in a real relationship that isn't meant to last for a week. You're growing up."

"Growing up sucks."

"Preaching to the choir. That's why I'm not doing it."

"You're not settling down because you like sleeping with anything that moves too much."

"That too."

"Kate would ask how you're not diseased."

"I ask that question myself sometimes." Nis paused here, leaning closer to massage the back of his neck. "You miss her?"

"Every day."

"It gets easier."

"I know."

Tony lifted his head slightly, sliding one of his hands across the bar to grab his drink, maneuvering it so he could sip from the straw without dislodging Adonis' hand.

"So how do my hands compare to your boyfriend's?" He asked when Tony had set his drink back down.

"Softer, more feminine, not a hint of callous. But very very good at what they do." Tony grabbed the paler, slimmer hand and tilted his head so he could better catch the scent. "What perfume do you have on?"

"Lotion, and it's Cashmere Glow."

"Bath and Body Works. Gibbs smells like sawdust and bourbon."

"I remember from our little interrogation. I was thinking about that voice for _days_."

"Back off. He's mine."

"We could share..." Nis teased flirtatiously, using his free hand to muss Tony's hair up until it stuck out everywhere.

"Not happening. Even if he was into it. Remember Jasper?" Tony replied, jerking away with a mock scowl to fix his hair.

"I saved your ass, he was abusive. Besides, you stole Amber from me."

"Danger of threesomes."

"Amen to that."

Before Tony could bring up the red-headed Tammy that had taken them both for a ride and nearly wrecked their friendship, his phone buzzed insistently in his pocket. He fished it out and looked at the screen, heart skipping a beat when he read the name.

"Gibbs. I need to take this."

"Not a problem, take your time." Nis stated, backing off to do one of the things he had been putting off to listen to Tony.

Smiling thankfully, Tony answered the call, right before it clicked over to voicemail. "Morning Boss."

"Got a case DiNozzo. What's your 20?"

"Hanging out with a friend. I'll be there soon."

"Get here sooner DiNozzo." The line went dead before he could answer, but he did anyways out of habit.

"Gotcha." Pulling a few bills out if his pocket, he set them on the bar and finished his Pepsi, before waving a goodbye to Nis and taking off out the door.

Not having to get ready for the day, Tony was the first one in the bullpen, aside from Gibbs. Hearing the elevator ding, Tony looked up to see Ziva and McGee walk off. Ziva was fuming about something, and with his hearing he could tell what they were saying, but just watched them with interest as they came closer.

"Men are such bad liars." Ziva stated, matter of factly.

"But if a good liar was telling you a lie, you would not know it was a lie." McGee rebutted, holding a finger up to make his point.

"Ha! I would." Ziva barked, folding her arms smugly.

"How would you know?" McGee queried, raising an eyebrow as Tony fell into step behind them.

"Know what?"

"When an expert liar is telling Ziva a lie."

"And this started how?"

"Well, I told her that I went to the gym this morning." McGee beamed proudly, as if getting to the gym before ten was a big accomplishment.

"No great skill in guessing you were fibbing there, Probie. You may have lost some weight, and personally I am very proud of you. But gym is definitely not your middle name."

"Okay, well," There was a short pause here "Ziva thinks that all men are liars." It was a deflection sure, but nobody expected the topic to stay on McGee's weight for long. Tony looked over at Ziva instead, only half feigning his interest.

"Really? So if I were to lie to you, you would be able to tell?"

Ziva laughed, loud enough to draw the attention of other teams. "Particularly you."

"You think?" He said, his instinct to take on a challenge rising to the surface.

"I wouldn't go there, Tony." McGee warned, but the advice went unheeded.

"Oh, watch and weep." Tony smirked smugly. "True or false? I had leftover Chinese for breakfast this morning."

"True."

"Lucky guess. Last night I had a date with a very beautiful woman."

"False."

Raising an eyebrow, Tony leaned closer to McGee. "She's good."he looked back at Ziva now, smirking. "My first car was a shiny new red Corvette."

"False. Strike three. I win." She stated, her own smirk growing as Tony's face fell in confusion.

"How did… how did you do that?"

"When you said you had a red Corvette, you looked down and to the left. A telltale sign when people lie."

"And the date?" Granted it was two nights ago, and Gibbs wasn't a hot chick, but it wasn't exactly a lie either.

"Tony, if you'd gone out with a beautiful woman last night, you would have been talking about it when you came in."

"I would?"

McGee and Ziva looked at each other before nodding. "Oh, yeah." They replied in unison.

"Okay, but how do you possibly know that I had Chinese for breakfast this morning?"

"Gear up. We have a message from a dead guy." Gibbs stated, walking in with a fresh cup of coffee and grabbing something off his desk. The three chatting agents grabbed their respective bags as well, having put them in a place for easy access.

"Ready to roll, Boss." Tony broadcasted, nearly jumping into place behind Gibbs.

"Dinozzo?"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"You've got egg fried rice on your shirt." Gibbs nearly smiled as he stepped into the elevator, watching Tony scramble to pick off the pieces of his breakfast that clung stubbornly to his collar.

"Not just your shirt." Ziva quipped, obviously pleased as the elevator doors dinged shut. Tony rolled his eyes at her and rubbed the strap of his backpack with his thumb.

The elevator could comfortably hold two, even three, but with four and gear Tony felt kind of like a sardine. However his usual complaining was cut off by the fact that his ass, wonderfully muscled and toned -or so he'd been told anyways- was pressed right up against Gibbs' thigh, mere inches away from the prize Tony had been seeking for nearly his entire career at NCIS.

Maybe, just maybe if he played his cards right, he'd be able to scope Gibbs out so to speak. But how? Precious moments were ticking away and soon he'd be out of time. His gaze landed upon McGee's gear and instantly he came up with an idea.

It made him wonder what would happen if they were alone in the elevator. Would Gibbs haul him up and shove him against the wall, fingers flicking the emergency stop on the elevator in order to pin him and rut against his ass, palming him through his jeans, only to flip him around and give him something more satisfying to thrust against while kissing him so passionately that it stole his breath away until they were moaning and trembling with the force of their orgasms, leaning against each other and satisfied, albeit sticky and in need of clean pants.

Damn it, as cliche as that fantasy was, now he was embarrassingly hard. The elevator stopped and the doors dinged open, and he dropped to a knee, still digging through his fortunately placed bag. McGee and Ziva exited, and Gibbs stepped around him, looking far more composed than Tony thought he would have, though delivering a harder than normal head slap as he passed, stopping in the elevator's doorway.

"Coming DiNozzo?" He growled, glaring at him with a stare that promised revenge.

"Yeah. Just fixing my bag, couldn't find what I was looking for."

"Well hurry up."

Tony didn't respond, instead he was trying to focus on the most unsexy thing he could think of, which just happened to be Mrs. Mallard sunbathing on a nude beach. A few tense and vaguely nauseating moments passed, before he was able to stand up and move briskly out of the elevator, receiving another hard head slap as he passed Gibbs.

"Sorry boss."

"Rule six DiNozzo."

"I know, it's a sign of weakness."

Once everyone was in the truck and they were on the road, McGee turned to look at Tony with a raised eyebrow.

"So what were you looking for in the elevator?"

"A pack of gum." Tony stated, making sure to keep his eyes focused on that little crease between McGee's brow to avoid looking down and to the left, like Ziva had noted him doing this morning. "What's it to ya Probie?"

"Why would you need gum on a case?

"Never know when fresh breath will come in handy McLonely. Ladies appreciate minty freshness."

"And I have been able to gain impressions from gum in various states. That powdery coating also is useful in a pinch." Ziva commented.

Sensing he was beat, McGee conceded the point. "Guess I should be more prepared." He stated, putting his hands on his knees.

"That's why you're a probie, Probie."

Listening to Ziva and her language skills was impressive, but Tony froze when he heard Gibbs start speaking Russian. He moved his chair a little closer to the glass, watching Gibbs' mouth move, hearing those forceful syllables tumbling skillfully from those lips delectable lips. Languages had never been his forte, not like gibbs and Ziva anyway, aside from some Italian, he only knew English and Spanish. Maybe that explained why he found Gibbs' Russian so captivating, then again, he wasn't turned on by Ziva. Or maybe it was that Gibbs was so illuring. Regardless, he was focusing less and less on the actual interrogation and more on whether or not he could convince Gibbs to talk dirty to him in Russian.

It wasn't until the guy monitoring the interrogation room cleared his throat for the third time that he returned to the present. Jerking his head up in surprise he looked over at the source of the sound, surprised that the interview was over so quickly. Standing he nodded at the tech and left the room, thankful that he hadn't let his fantasies go as far as they had wanted to.

It was official. Tony loved hearing his first name coming from Gibbs' mouth, and being told to make himself at home in Gibbs' house. Even if he had to babysit Mike Franks. It was a shame that there were other agents in the house and it was a job. He'd have loved to sneak into Gibbs' room and breathe in his scent off of a pillow.

Tony stood by the fact that even with that urge, he wasn't creepy. Not one bit.

But when he took his eyes off of the stack of unopened mail on Gibbs' counter Mike Franks was gone, sending Tony momentarily into panic mode. He could still smell the faintly acrid odor of fish cigarette smoke and stale booze that clung to the retired agent. He didn't believe Franks was an alcoholic, just that his age brought less care for his appearance than he used to have.

Or so Tony supposed anyways.

No sooner had he found Franks, by following the smoke, did Gibbs call. He turned away from Mike for just a moment, to focus on the call. There was a shuffling sound and Tony started to turn back, a hand on his gun, when suddenly, something hard struck him at the base of his skull.

Dropping the phone with a cry, Tony collapsed, vision going dark. The last thing he heard as he slipped from consciousness was Gibbs calling his name.

When he came to again, he was surrounded by paramedics and Gibbs. Slowly he sat up, running a mental check over his extremities, making sure everything was working properly. His toes wiggled when he wanted them to, and his fingers moved obediently as well. Once he had sat up fully, he gingerly reached to touch the lump forming on the back of his head. He didn't feel blood, but if he had been out long enough for Gibbs to get here, he would have easily formed a scab by now. He looked at Gibbs and the paramedics questioningly.

"Did I lose any hair?" He asked, smiling softly as the paramedic, a good looking brunette chuckled and smiled at him.

"No." The EMT replied, packing up her bag. Gibbs tore his gaze away from Tony's head, and looked at the paramedic before she could leave.

"How is he?" Gibbs asked, the faintest hint of worry noticeable in his voice, to those that knew him well.

"He'll live." The paramedic replied, and tony couldn't help but chime in with a cheeky grin.

"Well, I've been hit harder, Boss, by you."

The paramedic left some instructions that Tony missed due to his careful observing of Gibbs, who remained crouched beside him. Tony could pick out the worry in the man's eyes. Tony assumed it was more about Franks than it was about him. After all, Gibbs had been friends with Mike since he was a Probie fresh out of the Marines.

"Once we find Franks and this whole business with Puchenko and Arkady is over, we're gonna have a chat about you getting hurt all the time. And don't think I forgot about that stunt you pulled in the elevator." Gibbs muttered to him, after clearing his throat to draw Tony's attention to the present again.

"Gotcha boss. Here's what happened." Tony volunteered, beginning to explain the attack, or what he remembered of it anyways.

Final note: Sorry to those of you that got the alert for chapter thirteen a few weeks ago, that was a mistake on my part, as I repeated the under covers episode accidentally thank you for your understanding!


	14. Chapter 14 The Second Date

Between the mild concussion, which was fixed with fresh blood and a good night's rest, and solving the case involving the two Russians, it was Friday before Tony knew it. It wasn't until lunch that he looked at his calendar to get the date. As his gaze landed on today's square and the glittering star sank in. The star marked his second date with Gibbs. The date that was taking place in Gibbs' house no less. The date at was tonight.

God, he was so ecstatic. How could he have forgotten? He looked up at Gibbs and grinned wider, looking around the room before he became suspicious by staring straight at Gibbs and grinning like a cat with cream.

"Something the matter DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked after a few moments.

"I have a date with LeAnne tonight."

"Oh? You're still dating her?" Ziva questioned, looking up and setting her pen down. McGee looked up as well.

"What do you mean 'still'?" Tony responded, chuckling a bit nervously. "It's only been two weeks."

"Exactly. Tony you're not known for having long lasting relationships." McGee pointed out.

"Two weeks must be some kind of record." Added Ziva, twirling a pen absently.

"Well," Tony started. He glanced around the room and caught even Gibbs' hand stilling, waiting for the answer. Taking a breath to fortify himself, he shrugged; "She's something else. I can't really explain it. Just one of those things y'know?"

McGee and Ziva shared a look then grinned. "You're in love!" Ziva exclaimed, jolting from her seat and pointing a finger in his direction.

"Am not!" He replied ducking his head a bit under the scrutiny.

"You are too. You're looking down and to the left." McGee chimed in, enjoying being able to put Tony under the magnifying glass of mockery for once.

"Yeah well I could just be trying to fool you with those signs, I know what they are." Tony shot back, sitting straighter and folding his arms over his chest defiantly.

"Hey! Any of you gonna get some work done? 'Cause if not you can go home." Gibbs interjected, hiding a smile behind a scowl.

Immediately, everyone returned to their prior positions and returned to work, Tony moving a little slower than the others. He knew Gibbs could tell that he was nervous, and Gibbs knew he was almost as bad at keeping secrets as Abby. With the exception of the secret he couldn't tell anyone.

"And DiNozzo." Gibbs continued after a beat, giving him a welcome excuse to look over at his boss openly.

"Yes boss?"

"Nobody needs or wants to know about your love life. Leave it at home."

"Of course boss. Won't happen again."

"Uh huh."

They both knew that Tony was the type to brag, but Gibbs hoped that he'd keep it quiet for once. Thankfully enough there were no new cases that they were assigned because as difficult as it would be to admit out loud, Gibbs was looking forward to his date tonight, and had a plan.

The hours moved quietly, only the whirr of a printer or the clicking of keys signaling that anyone currently inhabited the Major Case Response Team's bullpen. Just as Gibbs began to dismiss the team for the night, Tony's desk phone rang. "Tony DiNozzo's desk you've reached Tony." He recited, with as much charm and cheer as he could, as if he was expecting a call from his girlfriend.

_"Agent DiNozzo, glad you're still here. Can I see you in my office please?" _the voice of their director, Jenny Shepard, sounded in his ear. Damn it.

Damn it all to hell.

Of course she'd call now, just when he was trying to get out of here for his date. The rest of the team was looking quizzically at him. He waved McGee and Ziva towards the elevator without thinking.

"Of course director. Will you want me for long?" Out of the corner of his eye he could see Gibbs frown.

_"It shouldn't take too long. The door will be open. I've sent Cynthia home. Come right in."_ The line clicked off. No goodbye. Tony stopped wondering how she had been friends with Gibbs.

Setting the receiver back onto the cradle, Tony couldn't help a sigh. Why did the director have to call him tonight?

"Our darling director needs me."

"You need backup?"

"Nah, I can handle her. Let LeAnne know I might be late for dinner?"

"I'll call her."

"Thanks Gibbs. Drive safe."

"You too DiNozzo."

Turning away from Gibbs before he could admit that he didn't want to go, and try to sneak out. He straightened his clothes put on a calm, determined façade, and walked up to the director's office.

When he got upstairs and into Jenny's office, he closed the door behind him at her request.

"I need a favor." She started. "There are some important, confidential files at Monroe University Hospital and I need you to pick them up."

"Okay. Can it be done in the morning? Because I have a-"

"Date. I know. Yes, they can be picked up in the morning. You can drop them off when you come in tomorrow. I'll let Gibbs know you'll be in late."

"Thank you director. Who will I be picking them up from?"

"It should be with the nurses on the third floor."

"Alright. Will do. Anything else?"

"Don't look in the folder. It's for my eyes only."

"Okay."

"Now all you have to do, is go have fun on your date." Tony grinned now.

"Oh I plan to director. I plan to."

Tony arrived at Gibbs' house a little later than he wanted to. After agonizing over what he was going to wear he decided on an emerald button down and tight jeans. Maybe not as casual as Gibbs wanted, but he looked nice. He stood outside the door for a few minutes, listening and gathering his courage. He could hear Gibbs walking around and smell something delicious cooking.

While he stood there working up the courage to knock, he could hear the footsteps come closer and pause on the other side of the door.

Damn it.

He had just brought his hand up to knock when the door opened, revealing an amused Gibbs.

"Nervous DiNozzo?"

"Of course not." He scoffed, entering the home when the older man stepped aside. "Should I be?"

"That depends on what Jenny had to say."

"Just wanted me to pick up a file for her in the morning before work. Not a big deal." Gibbs 'uh huh'ed skeptically but motioned to a chair anyways. Tony smiled and took his favorite spot on the couch, nestling in contentedly. The one good thing about Gibbs' furniture was that he knew how to pick couches. It was plush enough so that you could relax, but not so soft as that you couldn't give up. It was his favorite spot in Gibbs' house so far.

After a dinner of cowboy style steak and some boxed pasta side, both were delicious, Gibbs brought them both beers. Taking a chance, Tony scooted closer, resting his head on Gibbs' shoulder. Gibbs looked over and raised an eyebrow before hiding a smile by taking a swig of his beer.

"Comfortable DiNozzo?" The question came after he swallowed.

"Yeah. This is nice Boss."

"Jethro."

"What?"

"We're not at work. You can call me Jethro."

"Well then, Jethro, you made a wonderful supper." There was a pause as Tony thought, a somewhat dopey smile on his face. Gibbs had wanted him in casual clothes, presumably things that could get dirty. He took another drink of his beer and tumbled the words around in his head. "So what did you want me to wear comfortable clothes for?" He asked after a while.

"That was quick." Gibbs stated, standing up and heading towards the basement. "Come on." He motioned with his head and Tony quickly scampered after him, rolling his eyes. Of course their date activity would be building that damn boat.

No. Not a damn boat. There was something mystical about watching Gibbs sand and plane. He had enjoyed it while he recovered from the plague. Slowly, Tony descended the stairs, standing on the last step and watching Gibbs stand near the wood occupying most of his basement. Tony would, and could, make jokes, but he was too busy watching Gibbs pick up a sanding block. Gibbs motioned for Tony to come closer, and Tony stepped onto the concrete floor, walking up beside Gibbs.

"Here." Gibbs pressed the block into Tony's hand, moving him between the wood of the boat and Gibbs' own body then pressing him close against the wood. He took Tony's hands in his own with the gentleness that you would use caressing a lover, before positioning them and lightly gliding them along with the grain of the wood. Tony found himself becoming light headed at the gentle touches, the way Gibbs' body pressed against his, the soft breathing in his ear.

"I haven't forgotten." Gibbs stated, continuing to guide Tony's hands. "You were out of line in the elevator." Tony could hear the lust etching it's way into Gibbs' voice as the first stirrings of arousal were evident in Gibbs' groin.

"I'd say I'm sorry," Tony breathed, a smile sliding onto his face, "but I'm not."

"I know. If we would have been alone, I'd have made you regret that."

Tony shivered at the hint of promise in Gibbs' voice. "I wouldn't have regretted it."

Suddenly Tony's arms were pinned roughly to the wood of the boat as Gibbs pressed his body more firmly into one of the support beams for the hull. Lips caressed the shell of Tony's ear before a light kiss was pressed right behind it. "Even when I didn't let you get changed?"

"Especially then Jethro..." Tony breathed, pushing back against him. He could feel Gibbs growing more aroused by the moment. A good sign. "We're alone now." He hinted, pressing back against the warm body a bit more and rubbing his ass against Gibbs's crotch, pleased when the grip on his wrists tightened and Gibbs bit his neck lightly. Tony moaned softly, twisting as much as he could in Gibbs' grip to get a proper kiss out of his boyfriend. He didn't want to force Gibbs to let him go, although Tony doubted that he could force Gibbs to do anything he didn't want to do, even with vampire strength.

Tony's request was granted, after he uttered a whispered 'kiss me' into the man's ear. Gibbs didn't waste time in taking control, plundering Tony's mouth with his tongue. Gibbs pressed Tony's hands into the wood if the boat, as a signal to keep them there, before sliding his hands down Tony's arms and over his chest. Gibbs' fingers worked over the buttons on his shirt, leaving the material hanging open, stroking and worshipping the smooth waxed skin with those calloused fingers Tony loved so much.

Fingers expertly grazed over Tony's pert nipples, before rolling them between thumb and forefinger causing him to moan into the kiss. Gibbs took that moment to break them apart, smirking at how debauched Tony looked already. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Tony's neck, high enough so that it wouldn't be covered in the morning, before sucking the spot into a dark mark, eliciting soft murmurs of appreciation from the man looking ready to be crucified against the framework of his boat. Before he moved away from that spot, he gave it a harsh bite, eliciting a cry as Tony's head thumped into the wood of the boat and his nails dug rivets into the smooth hull.

Those would need to be buffed out.

Pulling Tony back against him a bit more, Gibbs gently licked the mark to soothe the pain away. Having to explain it in the morning, feel it every time he moved his head, see it every time he looked in the mirror, that was Tony's punishment.

He slid one hand down Tony's body, thumbing over the well groomed trail of hair below the vampire's navel leading down to the waistband of his pants. Stroking over the button and zipper lightly he palmed Tony's erection through the denim, reveling in every noise and hitch of breath that came from the younger man.

When he came back to himself Tony realized there were small splinters under his fingernails and he had dropped his hands from the partially finished side of the boat and was being held up by Gibbs' strong arms.

"God Jethro..." He breathed, running his fingers through the man's silver hair. "That was so much better than I pictured it. And before you can ask, yes, I do picture it. Every morning I wake up so hard for you... I have for a long time. Sometimes I scream out your name while laying in my bed, and sometimes I'm in the shower... And there are other times where I've muffled it into my arm, hiding in the elevator with it stopped between floors. Your hand, your mouth, your cock buried deep in my ass... Loving and slow or fast and rough... My mind drags me everywhere."

Tony paused and looked over slightly to see Gibbs staring intently at him, Tony smiled seductively in response. "But it's not always about me. I've fantasized about pleasuring you too. Sometimes I'll use my hands, but my favorite way is this." To emphasize, he slid down to his knees and nuzzled Gibbs' cock which was tenting his sweatpants quite obviously.

Tony remained kneeling on the floor after swallowing all of Gibbs' cum, listening to them both catch their breath. He felt uncomfortably sticky, due to the mess in his pants from when Gibbs got him off, but so long as he didn't move too much it wasn't that big of a deal. When Gibbs gathered his breath back, he tucked himself neatly back into his sweatpants and went to the side of the boat, starting to peel off the piece that had the furrows from Tony's nails in them.

"Those... Could probably be buffed out." He wavered, feeling guilty as he continued to kneel on the floor.

"Yeah. They could."

"Then why are you taking off that piece?"

"Well. Is simple Tony, I wanna have it in case I turn you into a boat."

**A/N: well you may notice that there are some parts missing. Once again you can read them in their entirety at Takumiwrites dot ****tumblr dot ****com. I also had troublpicturing little scene breaks in. So much in fact that I got frustrated and quit. It's may or may not be corrected later. But it is correct on my tumblr.**


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